Brad Gardiner Sends Barrie Colts to Game 6 With OT Winner

Brad Gardiner scored nearly 15 minutes into overtime and the barrie colts beat the Brantford Bulldogs in Game 5 on Thursday night in Brantford. The win kept Barrie alive in the Eastern Conference final and pushed the series to at least six games.

Gardiner Delivers in Brantford

Barrie needed one goal to avoid seeing its season end in Game 5, and Gardiner provided it after a back-and-forth night that kept shifting between the two teams. His overtime winner settled a game that was tied 3-3 after Caleb Malholtra, who scored his league-leading 13th goal of the postseason, pulled Brantford even later in the third period.

The goal came after the Colts had already climbed out of trouble once in the final period. William Schneid scored for Barrie, and Jaiden Newton added another in just over two minutes to flip the game before Malholtra answered again for the Bulldogs.

Hrebik Holds Barrie Together

Ben Hrebik made 34 saves for Barrie, and that workload mattered in a game where neither side ever let the other pull away for long. Emil Hemming scored for the Colts in the second period, while Marek Vanacker restored Brantford’s lead before Barrie’s third-period push changed the shape of the game again.

Those swings left the Bobby Orr trophy sitting in its case for now. The winner of Game 5 would have moved one step closer to the OHL final, but Barrie turned the elimination game into a return trip home instead.

Game 6 Back in Barrie

Game 6 is Saturday night back in Barrie, with the Colts carrying the momentum of an overtime win and the Bulldogs trying to answer after letting a chance to finish the series slip away. Barrie has already done the hard part by forcing the matchup to continue.