Just call him Sudden Sam Barrett.
The 18-year-old winger netted his second overtime goal of the playoffs and third overall this season to lift the Fort Erie Meteors to a 3-2 victory over the Hamilton Kilty B’s before 775 fans Saturday night at the Leisureplex.
It was a huge win for the Meteors who tied the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League best-of-seven semifinal playoff series at 1-1 after dropping the opener 2-1 in Hamilton Thursday.
Barrett, who leads the Mets in playoff scoring with six points in six games, didn’t waste much time, netting the winner just 21 seconds into the fourth period.
“I don’t even know what happened,” he said. “We had a zone entry, a three-on-two, I went back door and (Kyle) Adamo slid it across and I tapped it in.”
That set off a wild celebration for the Meteors who had lost eight in a row to the Kilty B’s this season.
Meteors general manager/coach Nik Passero tipped his cap to Barrett and his linemates for coming through in the clutch.
“Give it to the shutdown line (Barrett, Adamo, Owin Hendsbee) to get the winner,” he said. “That’s just something you don’t expect. Their job is just don’t get scored on.”
With the series back at square one, the Meteors must now find a way to win keep momentum on their side against a solid Hamilton squad.
“We have to pretty much win every one at home at take one up there in their barn, which I think we’re capable of doing,” Barrett said. “The crowd here is electric — I don’t know many there were — but it makes the game that much better and it is certainly the experience of a lifetime.”
Passero agreed home ice will be crucial for the Mets, who take pride in their play at the Leisureplex.
“It’s more of owning home ice,” he said. “We preach how good we are on home ice and we get the big crowds and maybe for the last three weeks we haven’t been our A-plus at home. Tonight we weren’t A-plus. We battled for everything we got. They really laid it to us at times but we just scraped and clawed and did what we had to do.”
The Meteors twice took leads on goals by Nathan Phillips and Dawson McKinney only to have the Meteors respond with markers from Dominic DiFrancesco and Luke Gualtieri.
With leading scorer Joe Macchione still out on suspension — he is due to return in Game 4 Wednesday — the Meteors have had trouble generating a consistent attack.
“The further you get the harder it gets and the tougher teams get and the less time you have with the puck to make plays,” Barrett said. “It’s hard to make nice plays. You have to make every moment count.”
Passero said it’s almost impossible to run and gun with the Kilty B’s.
“When they have guys in their lineup like 71 (McKinney) and 86 (Phillips), it’s tough. They’re game breakers. They only need one chance so I’d rather just defend. It’s not like we’re sitting back, but we have to take care of our net front and then go on the attack,” he said.
Fort Erie goaltender Josh Smith had another solid effort with 32 saves.
“I thought today we came out flat but Smitty (goaltender Josh Smith), come on, he’s standing on his head,” Passero said.
Metscellaneous: Macchione, Jayden Baldinelli, Nolan Stickland and R.J. Schmidt were scratched for the Meteors.
Fort Erie winger Sam Barrett.
Meteors 3 Kilty B’s 2 OT
Fort Erie Meteors: Sam Barrett (2); Dominic DiFrancesco (2); Luke Gualtieri (1).
Hamilton Kilty B’s: Dominic Mufarreh (4); Brayden Russell (2); Noah Baltzer (1); Dylan DeKoe (1).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Fort Erie on David Egorov (24), by Hamilton on Josh Smith (34); Power plays: Fort Erie 2/4, Hamilton 2/4; Penalty minutes: Fort Erie 12, Hamilton 12.
Attendance: 775.
Up next: The Meteors are in Hamilton Monday at 7 p.m. for Game 3.
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