By Marc DesRosiers

The Ottawa 67s managed to stave off elimination by winning game 5 in the best of 7 against the Barrie Colts at the J. Benson Cartage centre in Ottawa. The Colts were leading the series 3-1 going in.

The 67s got the scoring underway at 7:47 in the second period with a power play goal by Cody Ceci. The Colts responded late in the period with a shot By Daniel Erlich that just managed to get past Petr Mrazek. Tyler Toffoli responded with his 9th goal of the playoff with only seconds left at the end of the second.

The third period offered a lot of turnovers, with the  67s ability to set up plays in front of the goal limited by a strong Colts defense.  A holding penalty to Marc Zanetti with 3 minutes remaining meant that the 67s we forced to hold their position.

April 13th, 2012, Ottawa : Barrie Colts goalie Mathias Niederberger ((35) streches to make a save in the second period against the Ottawa 67s at the J. Benson Cartage arena. The 67s won over the Colts by a score of 2.1.

Mathias Niederberger was named the second star of the game, letting in only 2 goals in this evening’s assault by the 67s, with 45 shots on goal.

the 67s return to Barrie for game 6 on Sunday.

(Additional images from the game can be seen here)

Here is the game summary, courtesy of the CHL:

VISITORS: BARRIE PLAYERS Pos. G A +/- PIM 3  Laser, Jonathan D 0 0 0 0 4  Lepkowski, Alex D 0 0 +1 4 5  Ekblad, Aaron D 0 0 -1 0 8  Hartwick, Derek D 0 0 0 2 9  Ezekiel, Norm RW 0 0 -1 0 10  Bell, Brendan LW 0 0 -1 0 11  MacDonald, Josh LW 0 0 +1 0 13  Klie, Mitchell C 0 0 0 0 15  Camara, Anthony LW 0 0 0 0 16  Telegin, Ivan C 0 0 0 0 17  Erlich, Daniel LW 1 0 0 0 18  Bradford, Erik C 0 0 0 0 19  Scheifele, Mark C 0 1 +1 0 20  Buonomo, Chris D 0 0 +1 0 21  Smoskowitz, Dylan C 0 0 0 0 22  Sutch, Gregg RW 0 0 0 0 24  Behenna, Colin C 0 0 0 0 27  McNeill, Reid D 0 0 -1 0 TEAM 1 0  Goalies GA Mins SH SVS PIM 1  Fotinos, Alex – – – – – 35  Niederberger, Mathias 2 60:00 45 43 0 Coach: Dale Hawerchuk Manager: Jason Ford	HOME: OTTAWA PLAYERS Pos. G A +/- PIM 4  Callaghan, Sean D 0 0 0 0 6  Shipley, Ryan D 0 0 0 0 8  Van Stralen, Ryan LW 0 0 0 0 10  Zanetti, Marc D 0 1 0 4 12  Cajkovsky, Michal D 0 0 0 0 13  Giftopoulos, Remy LW 0 0 0 0 16  Toffoli, Tyler RW 1 1 0 2 17  Janes, Steven RW 0 0 0 0 18  Prince, Shane LW 0 0 0 0 19  Graovac, Tyler C 0 0 -1 0 20  Monahan, Sean C 0 2 +1 2 25  Gustavsen, Brett LW 0 0 0 2 27  Cardwell, Jake D 0 0 0 0 33  Smith, Dalton LW 0 0 0 2 36  Fielding, Taylor RW 0 0 0 0 37  Foglia, Nicholas C 0 0 0 0 39  Cazzola, Mike C 0 0 0 0 83  Ceci, Cody D 1 0 0 0 TEAM 2 0  Goalies GA Mins SH SVS PIM 1  Mrazek, Petr 1 60:00 32 31 0 30  Nishi, Michael – – – – – Coach: Chris Byrne Manager: Chris Byrne
NOTE: Players listed in Italics are the starting lineup.
Scoring 2. OTT C. Ceci, (1) (S. Monahan, T. Toffoli), 7:47 (PP) 2. BAR D. Erlich, (3) (M. Scheifele), 17:55 2. OTT T. Toffoli, (9) (S. Monahan, M. Zanetti), 19:51	Penalties 2 – OTT S. Monahan, 0:59 – Hooking, 2 min (PP) 2 – OTT B. Gustavsen, 3:40 – Tripping, 2 min (PP) 2 – BAR D. Hartwick, 5:52 – Roughing, 2 min (PP) 2 – BAR A. Lepkowski, 14:20 – Inter. on Goaltender, 2 min (PP) 2 – OTT M. Zanetti, 14:45 – Slashing, 2 min (PP) 2 – OTT T. Toffoli, 15:40 – Inter. on Goaltender, 2 min (PP) 2 – BAR A. Lepkowski, 20:00 – Roughing, 2 min 2 – OTT D. Smith, 20:00 – Roughing, 2 min 3 – OTT M. Zanetti, 17:01 – Holding, 2 min (PP)
PP PIM PTS Barrie Colts 0 / 5 6 min / 3 inf 1 G + 1 A = 2 Pts Ottawa 67’s 1 / 2 12 min / 6 inf 2 G + 4 A = 6 Pts
Arena Three Stars Ice Officials Off-Ice Officials Ottawa Civic CentreAttendance: 5793 Start: 7:35 PM End: 9:46 PM Length: 2:11 1. OTT – 20 Sean Monahan 2. BAR – 35 Mathias Niederberger 3. OTT – 16 Tyler Toffoli Jason Faist (5), Referee Scott Hoberg (13), Referee Eric Dagenais (42), Linesman Mike Hamilton (86), Linesman Simon Tomlinson, Online Scorekeeper Chris Kelly, Timekeeper Jeff Johnston, Video Goal Judge