Last night the Peterborough Mr. Sub U15 AE
Petes played their third scheduled playoff game. The Petes braved the snowstorm and made their
way south to go head-to-head with the Oshawa Generals. During the regular season the Petes bettered
the Generals with a record of 4-2-2 (wins-loses-ties). However, the Petes knew they could not take
the Generals lightly as the playoffs are like a new season which gives team’s
new hope and past results are often not repeated.
With a dominating start to the first period the Petes immediately put the pressure on, keeping the puck in the Generals end of the rink for long durations at a time. This resulted in a lot of scoring chances and the Generals icing the puck repeatedly to get line changes. The game remained scoreless as the Generals weathered the storm keeping the Petes off the scoreboard. However bad luck would fall upon the Petes and the Generals took advantage of one of their few opportunities to score and take a 1-0 lead. The Petes returned to controlling the play and within a minute scored to tie the game at 1-1. The game continued with the Petes dominating play, until less than 5 minutes in the period when the Generals took advantage of a couple more opportunities and scored twice. The score at the end of the period was 3-1 in favour of the Generals. The Petes outshot the Generals 19-9 in the period.
In the second period the Petes hit the ice with the same intensity as the first period. However once again the Generals took advantage of a scoring opportunity to increase their lead to 4-1. After that goal the Petes called a timeout to settle down the players, refocus them, and provide positive motivation. In addition to the discussion the Petes decided to make a goalie switch to change the momentum in the game which was clearly moving in the Generals favour. The Petes then restarted the game with intentions to claw there way back. In the following two minutes of play the Petes would surrender another goal however would score two of there own making the score 5-3. Both teams would trade scoring chances and before the end of the period would both put another puck in each others net making the score at the end of the second period 6-4 for the Generals. The Petes outshot the Generals once again 11-5 in the period.
After the intermission a determined Petes team took to the ice. Again, the Petes took control of the game and produced many scoring chances. The Petes were becoming a little frustrated as they couldn’t get the puck passed the Generals netminder. The Generals though on this night had luck on there side and with limited opportunities would score once again extended their lead to 7-4. The Petes though determined to finish the game strong and win every shift from there on found another gear in their game. The comeback was on. And with six minutes remaining the Petes scored to reduce the lead to 7-5. Then, less then a minute later scored again to reduce the lead to 7-6. Then once again, less than a minute later scored to tie the game at 7-7 with less than five minutes remaining. With momentum on the Petes side the players put the pressure on the Generals and controlled most of the play for the remainder of the third period. The Generals overwhelmed by the Petes play would be penalized with forty-five seconds left in the game. The Petes powerplay would have a chance to go to work and end the game. Shot after shot the Petes tried to finish the game in regulation time but were unable to. Overtime would be needed to decide this game. The Petes outshot the Generals 14-5 in the period.
Overtime started with the Petes still on the powerplay. The Generals though with some good penalty killing would get away unscathed. With some back-and-forth action the Petes goalie was called upon to make a huge blocker arm save and control the rebound. This would be the motivation the Petes needed as it inspired them to win the faceoff and move the puck into the Generals end and score a highlight reel goal to get the overtime win. It was an epic comeback by the Petes. They all dug deep, didn’t quit on each other, worked hard, kept positive and got the much deserved victory.
Way to go Petes!
Goals scored by: Caeden K., Matthew S., Will M., Hayven W., DJ C.
Assists by: Will M., Olivia M., Hayven W., James C., Jacob G., Caeden K., Matthew S.
The Petes next playoff game is versus the Whitby Wildcats on Saturday, March 12th @ 9:00 PM in Whitby at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre.
|
Thank you to our Game Sponsor Cottage Toys for supporting our team!
Go Petes Go!
|
|