Barrie force Game 7

BARRIE, Ont. — Tyler Savard’s second goal of the game, at 17:56 of the third period, broke a tie and sent the Barrie Colts to a 4-2 Ontario Hockey League victory Monday night over the North Bay Battalion and a seventh and deciding game in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The teams meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Memorial Gardens to determine who faces the Peterborough Petes in the conference final.

Beau Jelsma had one goal and two assists and Declan McDonnell one goal and one assist for third-place Barrie, which got 32 saves from goaltender Anson Thornton before a crowd of 3,269 at the Sadlon Arena.

Dalyn Wakely and Pasquale Zito scored for second-place North Bay, while goaltender Dom DiVincentiis gave up three goals on 30 shots before Jelsma collected an empty-netter.

Zito was credited with his fifth goal of the playoffs after Kyle McDonald one-timed a Kyle Jackson feed from between the hash marks on the power play at 1:47 of the final frame, tying the game 2-2. Savard was in the penalty box after taking a roughing call at 20:00 of the second period.

The Battalion failed to capitalize on a Roenick Jodoin high-sticking penalty at 13:27 before Savard, unchecked at the crease, redirected a Jelsma shot-pass for the winner. Artur Cholach also assisted on Savard’s fourth goal.

With the Troops pressing and DiVincentiis gone for a sixth attacker, Jelsma put the puck into the empty net at 19:14.

Savard gave Barrie a 2-1 lead with the only goal of the second period, on the power play at 5:59, He snapped the puck from the left circle off a rush, with Braden Hache and Connor Punnett drawing assists.

DiVincentiis outlasted Zach Wigle in a battle at the right lip of the crease in the 16th minute to keep the Battalion’s deficit at one as the Colts outshot the visitors 12-9 in the period.

The Battalion got off to a solid start, recording the first seven shots before Barrie responded in the fifth minute and taking the lead on Wakely’s power-play goal, his fifth, at 7:09. Ty Nelson and Josh Bloom advanced the puck, and Wakely drove deep into the right circle, beating Thornton over the shoulder on the short side from a sharp angle.

McDonnell tied it at 18:14, converting a Jelsma pass from the goal line on the right side. Brandt Clarke, who had the other assist on McDonnell’s fifth goal, has at least one point in all 11 postseason games he has played, with seven goals and a league-leading 16 assists to top postseason scorers with 23 points.

The Troops ended up with a 17-11 edge in shots in tbe frame. Barrie’s Beau Akey hit the left post with a slapper from the blue line in the ninth minute, and Bloom was denied on a breakaway in the 13th, with the puck skittering wide left of the net after Thornton’s save.

Fourth-place Peterborough posted a 5-4 home-ice win over the Ottawa 67’s to eliminate the OHL’s top-ranked team four games to two.

BATTALION BULLETS: As was the case at Game 3, the Battalion was supported by a busload of fans … The Battalion has a won-lost record of 44-39 in playoffs since relocation from Brampton in 2013, including 20-22 on opponents’ ice … The Troops are 7-7 all-time in the sixth game of a playoff series, including 6-3 on the road … The Battalion’s Matvey Petrov saw the end of a nine-game points streak in which he had two goals and 13 assists for 15 points … In 25 playoff games apiece, McDonald has 17 goals and nine assists and Nelson has four goals and 22 assists, tying them at 26 points for 11th place in franchise history, one point ahead of Evgeny Grachev and Jackson, who has 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points … Nelson has a nine-game points streak in which he has three goals and 10 assists for 13 points. His 22 assists are fifth all-time and his 13 power-play assists are tied with Petrov, Wojtek Wolski and Cody Hodgson for third place in franchise annals … The Battalion went 2-for-3 on the power play. Barrie was 1-for-4 … The Battalion, which again dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen, scratched Wyatt Kennedy, Jacob Therrien, Brayden Turley, Ethan Procyszyn and Brett Bouchard … Barrie scratches included Carter Lowe and Evan Vierling … The Colts’ Cole Beaudoin marked his 17th birthday … Darcy Burchell and Joe Monette were the referees.