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Savard wears cape for Colts in crucial Game 6 victory

Barrie staves off elimination with 4-2 win over Battalion to force Game 7 on Tuesday night in North Bay
Raymond Bowe
Raymond Bowe
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Barrie Colts forward Tyler Savard scored the game-winning goal with a little over two minutes left in Game 6 to secure the victory and force a Game 7 on Tuesday night in North Bay.Terry Wilson/OHL Images

Saddle up for Game 7, Barrie Colts fans. 

Do or die. No tomorrow. Backs against the ropes. Fighting for their playoff lives. 

All of the cliches applied to the Barrie Colts on Monday night in Game 6 of their second-round series against the visiting North Bay Battalion at Sadlon Arena in Ontario Hockey League playoff action. 

Down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, the Colts needed a victory on home ice to force a deciding Game 7 back in North Bay on Tuesday night. 

Enter Tyler Savard. The Barrie forward scored with two minutes left on the clock to force tomorrow's winner-takes-all match-up. It was Savard's second goal of the game.

Colts teammate Beau Jelsma added one into the empty net to make the final 4-2. Jelsma finished the game with a goal and two helpers.

It was the Battalion that lit the lamp first in Game 6 earlier in the night. 

With Jelsma in the penalty box for tripping, North Bay's Dalyn Wakely scored on a snapshot from the face-off dot, going short side over the shoulder of Colts goalie Anson Thornton. It was the fifth goal of the playoffs for the 19-year-old Port Hope native. Josh Bloom and Ty Nelson picked up the assists.

With eight minutes left in the first period, Thornton made a big save on a breakaway chance from Bloom to keep the score at 1-0.

After some hard work from Jelsma and Savard behind the North Bay net, Jelsma passed the puck out front to Declan McDonnell, who buried the chance to tie the game 1-1 with less than two minutes to go in the opening frame. Barrie captain Brandt Clarke had the second assist. 

Just one minute into the second period, there was a scary play for Colts fans when Clarke got hit from behind into the boards by Kyle McDonald, who was assessed a two-minute boarding minor. The Battalion killed off the penalty and the score remained knotted 1-1.

Five minutes later, Savard gave the Colts their first lead of the game with a power-play marker after defenceman Braden Hache made quick pass up the ice. Savard snapped a shot from the face-off circle, beating Battalion goalie Dom DiVincentiis on the far side. It was Savard's third goal of the post-season, with Connor Punnett also being credited with an assist. 

With Savard in the penalty box serving a two-minute minor for roughing at the end of the second period, McDonald tied the game at 2-2 with a quick shot from the slot to beat Thornton less than two minutes into the third. It was McDonald's 12th goal of the playoffs, with Kyle Jackson and Matvey Petrov getting the assists.

Thornton made a pair of big saves in the early stages of the third to keep the score tied. 

Savard put the Colts up 3-2 with a tip in front of the net with a little over two minutes in the game, assisted by Jelsma and Artur Cholach, followed 78 seconds later by Jelsma's empty-netter, with McDonnell assisting.

Game 7 will be played Tuesday at North Bay Memorial Gardens starting at 7 p.m.

The shots on goal in Game 6 were 34 for North Bay and 31 for Barrie. 

The announced attendance was 3,269.

Elsewhere around the OHL on Monday night, the Peterborough Petes eliminated the top-seeded Ottawa 67's with a 5-4 win on home ice. The Petes will now face the winner of the Colts-Battalion series. 

Over in the Western Conference, the final is already set with the London Knights taking on the Sarnia Sting, starting Friday night at Budweiser Gardens in London.

SERIES AT A GLANCE

Game 1 – Friday, April 14 at North Bay – Colts 3, Battalion 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Sunday, April 16 at North Bay – Battalion 5, Colts 2
Game 3 – Tuesday, April 18 at Barrie – Colts 2, Battalion 1 (OT)
Game 4 – Thursday, April 20 at Barrie – Battalion 4, Colts 3 (OT)
Game 5 – Saturday, April 22 at North Bay – Battalion 7, Colts 3
Game 6 – Monday, April 24 at Barrie – Colts 4, Battalion 2
Game 7 – Tuesday, April 25 at North Bay, 7 p.m.