That was a wild one.
Julian Fantino scored the shootout winner and Carter George stopped all 14 shots he faced after coming on in relief, as the Owen Sound Attack rallied from four goals down to stun the Barrie Colts 6-5 in a shootout in Ontario Hockey League action Thursday night at the Sadlon Arena.
Kaleb Lawrence scored twice for the Attack in his return to the lineup after missing seven games with an injury. Deni Goure, Matthew Papais, and Cedrick Guindon also scored for the Attack.
Evan Vierling had a pair of goals for Barrie. Zach Wigle, Ethan Cardwell and Beau Akey also tallied.
This game looked over midway through the second period.
After the Vierling and Lawrence traded goals in the first, the Colts scored four unanswered to take a 5-1 lead in the second.
Vierling one-timed a shot past the blocker of Attack netminder Corbin Votary on the power play at 2:27 of the second to make it 2-1.
Four minutes later Cardwell tallied to put Barrie in front by two. Then it was Wigle at 7:43, deflecting an Akey point shot past Votary.
Two minutes later Akey ended Votary’s night with a point shot that found its way past the blocker of the Atttack netminder, 5-1 Barrie.
George, a third-round pick by the Attack in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection, then entered the game to make his OHL debut.
The netminder was recalled to join the Attack last Saturday in Erie after Nick Chenard went down with an injury.
He didn’t look like a rookie. George steadied the Attack crease as his teammates began to chip away at the Colts’ lead.
Goure deflected a Cal Uens point-shot past Colts netminder Anson Thornton at 11:45 of the second period.
Three minutes later, Papais made it a 5-3 game by scoring a highlight reel goal. He stickhandled around a defender in the neutral zone then weaved between two more Colts before shooting one past the blocker of Thornton.
The Attack made it a one goal game 3:10 into the third, as Lawrence was left unchecked in the slot and one-timed a Servac Petrovsky pass that came from behind the net to make it 5-4.
Owen Sound didn’t find the tying goal until there was 2:24 to play. Petrovsky, Ethan Burroughs and Cedrick Guindon broke up ice 3-on-2 and the puck came to the trailer – Guindon – on the left side. He made a deke to his forward and tried to shoot but it was partially blocked. Thornton overcommitted and watched as the puck slowly rolled into the blue paint and over the goal line.
Owen Sound had the best chance of overtime. Teddy Sawyer skated down the right wing and fired an innocent looking shot on net. Thornton mishandled it, bobbling the puck high in the air before diving down to catch it on the goal line.
It took a marathon shootout to settle – and George stopped all eight Barrie shooters he faced. Fantino found the winner to complete the epic comeback by the Attack.
Goure had a goal and two assists to reach the 100-point milestone for his OHL career.
George made 14 saves in the win, while Thornton stopped 24 taking the loss. Barrie outshot Owen Sound 34-29 while going 2 for 5 on the power play; The Attack finished 1 for 6.
Owen Sound (7-4-0-0) continues to lead the Midwest Division and return home for a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday against Guelph and Erie.
Barrie (5-2-1-1) plays their next game Saturday at home against Kingston.
BUMPS AND BRUISES
Attack netminder Nick Chenard, and forwards Colby Barlow and Gavin Bryant were all out of the lineup with injuries Thursday. Attack coach Greg Walters gave a brief update prior to the game but no certain timelines on their returns, saying it will probably a longer time out of the lineup for Bryant.