Joel Vanderlaan
@jovanderlaan
With a 6–4 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs on Tuesday night at Sadlon Arena, the Barrie Colts have advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship Series, where they’ll meet the Oshawa Generals.
The Colts continued the series-long trend of the home team winning every game, while the Frontenacs had forced a seventh and deciding game after falling behind in the series.
This marks the Colts’ first appearance to the third round since 2016, when they played the Niagara IceDogs.
Barrie had a 3-0-1-0 record against Oshawa during the regular season, but the playoff-tested Generals come into the series with the experience of last spring’s run to the OHL Final.
Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Emil Pieniniemi opened the scoring for Kingston just 1:51 into the game, finishing a strong net drive with a backhander.
Barrie would respond less than two minutes later, with defenceman Kashawn Aitcheson capitalizing on a passing play with Anthony Romani and Dalyn Wakely.
Just past the midway point of the stanza, Colts forward Emil Hemming continued his standout postseason, blasting home a one-timer on a 5-on-3 man advantage.
The Frontenacs tied things up late in the first, as Napanee native Cal Uens found the back of the net, and just 25 seconds later, Pieniniemi buried his second of the night on the power play to give Kingston the lead heading into the intermission.
Barrie answered early in the second period. Owen Van Steensel evened the score before Tristan Bertucci restored the Colts' advantage. Barrie outshot Kingston 21–9 in the frame.
Less than two minutes into the third period, Aitcheson provided some insurance on the power play. The highly touted prospect was ranked ninth among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings.
With under four minutes remaining, Penn State commit Kieren Dervin scored his first of the playoffs to bring Kingston within one. However, Colts captain Beau Jelsma secured the win with an empty-netter.
Sam Hillebrandt kept his perfect postseason record intact with a 24-save effort, while over-ager Charlie Schenkel made 40 saves at the other end.
Acquired from North Bay earlier this season, the trio of Romani, Van Steensel, and Wakely have now reached the Eastern Conference Final for the fourth consecutive year.
Kingston finished the regular season with a 40-20-5-3 record and went 7-4-0 in the playoffs.
They went unbeaten at Slush Puppie Place throughout the postseason. The Frontenacs have reached the Eastern Conference Final just twice in their franchise history.
