Mississauga Steelheads @ Barrie Colts, November, 2017
Final score: 6-3 Barrie
Barrie Colts
BAR #2 D Tucker, Tyler (2018) – Tucker was his usual, physical, self in this game. He threw a couple big hits and made life difficult on forwards trying to get to the net. He was mostly solid defensively but did get into trouble a couple times due to failed exit attempts and/or off the glass and outs that ended up coming right back into the zone. He showed good power in his shot catching all of the puck on a fade-away that somehow found its way into the net.
BAR #21 LW Douglas, Curtis (2018) – Douglas had a pretty quiet game. There were a couple shifts where he and his line were able to sustain zone time while cycling but few chances came from it. In some board battles it looked like he was trying to use his size to reach around players and pick at the puck rather than using his massive frame to push them off of it. His biggest highlight came on a play where he intercepted a fanned outlet and centered the puck for a good scoring chance, although it wasn’t converted one.
BAR #61 LW Suzuki, Ryan (2019) – Suzuki had another strong game. He always seemed to know what to do with the puck and did a nice job of leading teammates into open space with accurate passes. He slipped a few into the slot for quality scoring chances and also lucked his way into a goal while trying to make a cross-ice pass to an open teammate.
BAR #71 LW Nizhnikov, Kirill (2018) – Nizhnikov was quiet once again. He saw limited ice and didn’t accomplish much in the time he was out there. He showed a couple flashes but seemed to shoot himself in the foot any time he made a positive play. On one sequence, he showed good hands deking around a defender to gain the line with possession, only to turn and force a pass to a covered defenseman that jump-started Mississauga’s breakout.
Mississauga Steelheads
MISS #1 G Ingham, Jacob (2018) – Ingham was not sharp in this game. His rebound control was not great and he made some fairly routine saves look difficult. Some really soft shots gave him difficult and he looked unsure of himself even when he did come up with a stop.
MISS #10 D Rippon, Merrick (2018) – Rippon had a pretty rough night. His gaps in the neutral zone were routinely too big, which allowed Barrie’s forwards easy entries into the offensive zone. With the puck, he made some questionable decisions and forced passes that simply weren’t there. He looked a little hesitant and unsure of what he was doing, which got him into trouble on a few different occasions. His skating was pretty fluid and he had a couple nice rushes with the puck – you can see he has talent – but his decision making and positioning was poor.
MISS #91 C McLeod, Ryan (2018) – McLeod’s defense was better than his offense in this one. His positioning was mostly good and he was almost always back down low to support the defense and provide them with easy outlets. He had a couple nice rushes up ice but things seemed to stall when he made his way into the offensive zone. He was forced wide and ran himself out of racetrack on a couple occasions and he struggled to get the puck into dangerous areas. His best sequence came on a play where he carried the puck into the offensive zone and made a sharp cut towards the net before being tripped up and drawing a penalty.