On February 8th
the Petes travelled south to meet up with the Clarington Toros for a late-night
showdown. The last time the Petes played
the Toros the team was short players, and this night was no different. However, an inspired group of Petes players arrived
at the rink ready to redeem themselves from the previous 9-2 loss versus the
Toros. On this night the Petes offense
was on full display.
The First period
started with the Petes taking control of the puck and getting the first shot of
the game only seconds after starting. The
game continued with great opportunities to score at both ends until the Toros
opened the scoring. But the lead was
short lived as the Petes responded back with a goal of their own 17 seconds
later to tie up the game. Then the flood
gates opened offensively for both teams.
The Toros would score, then the Petes. This trend repeated itself until
the end of the period. Even though the
score at the first buzzer was 4-3 in favour of the Toros the Petes sent a
message that they had shown up to play.
The second period started
with both teams playing their best hockey of the year. Both teams would show great offensive skill
and great defense during the first few minutes.
However, it would be the Toros that would score first in the period and extend
their lead to 5-3. Then as luck would
have it the Petes would be the recipient of a questionable tripping call that put
the Toros on the powerplay. The Toros
with momentum on their side would not be stopped and get another goal to make
the score 6-3. The game was starting to
look out of reach, as it was looking like a repeat of their previous meeting. Until a change of fate occurred when the Toros
were assessed a penalty that would allow the Petes to regain some momentum in
the game. Following the powerplay the
Petes then dug deep and stepped up their game and scored, then 42 seconds later
scored again, then less than a couple minutes later scored again. Within a matter of two and a half minutes the
Petes offensive domination eliminated the Toros lead, and the game was tied
6-6. The Toros were shook, and visible
frustration was setting in for them as they never expected the Petes to
comeback. The game continued with back-and-forth action
until the Toros scored to retake the lead.
The score at the end of the second period was 7-6 in favour of the Toros.
With adrenaline high the Petes
took to the ice after intermission with intentions to finish the game
strong. The Petes pushed the pace of
play and only three minutes into the period the Petes were rewarded with their
seventh goal of the game to tie the score.
The score remained tied until 4 minutes remaining when the Toros scored
to take the lead 8-7. The Petes
determined to tie up the game kept pushing forward. However, it would be the Toros that would
score again with a little over 33 seconds left in the game to extend the lead
to 9-7. Then, the Petes won the next
faceoff moved the puck into the Toros zone and scored with 26 seconds left in
the game. The score was now 9-8. The Petes battled hard right up to the end of
the game but were unable to get another goal in the before the final buzzer
sounded.
It was one of the best games of
the year offensively and defensively for the Petes. It was a full team effort for 45 minutes. Way to go Petes!
Goal(s): Will M., Caeden K., Aiden B., Hayven W., Jacob G.
Assist(s): Caeden K., Jacob G., Ethan D., Matthew S., Connor T., Will
M., Hayden M.
The Petes next game is
against the Northumberland Nighthawks on Friday, February 10th @ 8:15 PM at the
Healthy Planet Arena.
Thank
you to our Game Day sponsor Howie Budd, Wealth Management, RBC Dominion
Securities for supporting our team!
Go Petes
Go!