Game 1 loss overshadowed by injury as Joe Salandra gets taken off by stretcher

The Barrie Colts did not just lose the opener of the OHL Championship Series. They lost the rhythm of the night in the second period when Salandra went down after getting tangled with Kitchener Rangers captain Cameron Reid.

Game 1 was tied 2-2 before Kitchener pulled away, with Andrew MacNeil and Cameron Arquette scoring 3:31 apart early in the third.

But Barrie's bigger issue is what happens next if Salandra is unavailable. He is not a passenger in that forward group.

The clip shows Salandra caught low in traffic, staying down as both benches stop reading the play and start reading the scene.

Williamson's bench has to absorb two hits now: the scoreline and the uncertainty around a young winger who helped drive pace through the middle of the ice.

Salandra posted 38 points in 59 regular-season games for Barrie, and that matters in a final where depth shifts can decide matchups.

The cleanest detail from the aftermath is that Williamson did not frame Reid's role as dirty. He credited Reid for checking on Salandra after the play, which lowers the temperature around the incident.

Barrie cannot let emotion drag its structure apart.

Kitchener already owns the series lead, and the Colts now need a lineup answer before puck drop in Game 2.

Until Barrie gives a clear update, Salandra's status becomes the pressure point of the series.

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