Niederberger 32 saves, Scheifele two goals as Colts even series with Bulls 1-1

BELLEVILLE, Ont. - Mathias Niederberger earned his second shutout of the post-season as the Barrie Colts blanked the host Belleville Bulls 5-0 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League playoff action.

The 20-year-old goaltender stopped all 32 shots he faced for the Colts, who evened the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final 1-1, and increased his league-leading save percentage to .950 in the process.

Mark Scheifele had two goals and an assist for Barrie and is now tied with Plymouth Whalers' forward Vincent Trocheck for the playoff scoring lead with 21 points in 10 games.

Mitchell Theoret, Josh MacDonald and Steven Beyers also scored for the Colts while Beyers tacked on two assists for a three-point outing.

Malcolm Subban picked up the loss for the Bulls after allowing five goals on 23 shots through 40 minutes of action. Charlie Graham replaced Subban to start the third period and stopped all eight shots he faced.

The Colts opened the game with energy and used their speed to force turnovers and create chances.

Scheifele opened the scoring on the power play at 6:01 of the first period and finished off a two-on-one three minutes later to make it 2-0.

Theoret converted on a power play at 6:29 of the second and MacDonald followed that with a shorthanded breakaway goal at 15:35.

Beyers closed out the second with a goal with 15 seconds left on the clock.

Barrie went 2 for 4 on the power play while Belleville failed to score on two chances with the man advantage.

The Colts will host Game 3 on Monday at the Barrie Molson Centre.