Third-period collapse sends Barons to 5-3 loss to Abbotsford

BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com

During the second intermission Friday night against Abbotsford, with his team leading by one, Barons coach Todd Nelson preached to his team about the importance of the first five minutes of the third.

“Then we come out and they score 20 seconds in and from that point on, it went downhill,” Nelson said.
Things caved in on the Barons during that span as the Heat scored three times in the first four minutes of the final period to beat the Barons 5-3 in front of 4,135 at the Cox Center.

With less than 20 games left in the season now and his team battling for a playoff spot, Nelson was surprised by what he said was his team’s lack of intensity.

“You’ll have to ask those guys,” Nelson said. “I’d like to know.”

It was the first time the Barons had lost a game in regulation that they’d led after two periods. They’re now 20-1-0-2 when leading after two.

“They got a bad goal to open the third and things just turned on us,” Alexandre Giroux said. “They took advantage of our lack of positive energy and that was the game right there.”

The Barons led 2-1 going into the third before the wheels came off.

Ryan MacMurchy tied it just 0:18 into the third.

Then, just 0:07 after Greg Stewart went off for a hooking penalty–and just 2:10 after MacMurchy’s goal–Quintin Laing put the Heat ahead.

MacMurchy scored again just more than a minute later as the game continued to crumble.

Nelson wasn’t thrilled with his team through the first two periods but felt good about the lead.