The Barrie Colts dropped a 5-3 decision to the league-leading Brantford Bulldogs on Thursday, missing a crucial opportunity to make up ground in the race for first in the Eastern Conference.
The Colts finished the weekend with a win over North Bay on Saturday but still sit five points behind Brantford at the top of the conference.
At 93 points, the Colts have already locked up the Central Division, meaning they can’t finish lower than second place in the conference.
Barrie only has six games left in the regular season and will need some help to catch up to Brantford.
It won’t be easy, however. The Colts only play two teams below .500 and have dates left against the Ottawa 67’s, the Peterborough Petes and Niagara Ice Dogs, which occupy the third, fourth and six spots in the Eastern Conference, respectively.
At 90 points, Ottawa is the only team that can catch up to Brantford or Barrie in the race for first in the conference.
The 67’s had an uneven weekend, starting with a 1-0 loss in overtime to Peterborough on Thursday.
Ottawa then lost 2-1 in overtime to lowly Brampton on Saturday but recovered to beat Peterborough 6-3 in a rematch on Sunday.
Still, the 67’s officially clinched home-ice for the first round of the playoffs over the weekend. The team announced that Game 1 and 2 of the playoffs would be played at home on March 27 and 29.
Even if Ottawa has more points, it won’t leapfrog the Colts for second in the conference because Barrie has won its division.
