67’s extend streak to five with win over Petes
Friday night is for fighting, and that’s exactly what the 67’s did; laying the beatdown on the Peterborough Petes 4-1 at home.
The 67’s began the game ahead of the Petes, doubling Peterborough’s shots 6-3 in the first five minutes of the game. A seismic hit in the 67’s defensive zone by Frankie Marrelli on Peterborough forward Yanis Lutz would send the play the other way, leading to a snipe from the super Swede Filip Ekberg with his new white stick to open up the scoring. Ryder Fetterolf would come up with two massive saves in the first, poke-checking the puck away from his crease to disrupt a pass early and a sprawling save after a defensive zone turnover. Brock Chitaroni would add another, as he followed Ekberg’s lead, and roofed it on Petes’ goaltender Easton Rye.
Peterborough would tighten up a bit more to start the second, however, the 67’s seemed to have more luck in transition, setting up in zone and ultimately getting pucks on net. The Petes would get two chances shorthanded, a breakaway and a two-on-one, both stoned by Fetterolf. It would be the 67’s who capitalized on the momentum shift, with Filip Ekberg registering what would have been his second of the night off a tipped point shot. However, the goal would get called offsides after review. Shortly after, Nic Whitehead would deliver Ekberg with a behind-the-back pass, which he would one-time in the net to end the period 3-0 Ottawa. While the stick has symbolized a change in fortune, Ekberg credits a renewed focus on goalscoring. “Dave always tells me to shoot more,” Ekberg said. “I think it’s been getting better each game and just try to build on every game.”
The 67’s would cling on, outworking the Petes to maintain possession throughout the majority of the third. That persistent effort allowed the 67’s to break into the offensive zone, and Jack Dever would float a beautiful pass to Shaan Kingwell, who would tuck it past Rye. Unfortunately for Fetterolf, who had a fantastic game, he would give up a backdoor goal within the last two minutes to end the game 4-1.
“As a coach in all my years of experience, I’ve realized that games around Christmas time are unpredictable,” said Head Coach Dave Cameron after the game. “Sometimes the focus isn’t there. I think we did a good job managing that, and the effort was there.”
Box score
| Teams | Score | Shots on goal | Power plays |
| Ottawa | 4 | 28 | 0/4 |
| Peterborough | 1 | 27 | 0/1 |
First period
#34 Filip Ekberg (8) scores. Assists: #10 Nic Whitehead, #21 Ryan White
#17 Brock Chiaroni (5) scores. Assists: #26 Nathan Amidovski, #37 Thomas Vandenberg
Second Period
#34 Filip Ekberg (9) scores: Assists: #10 Nic Whitehead
Third Period
#11 Shaan Kingwell (8) scores. Assists: #18 Jack Dever
Up next
The 67’s will have the chance to extend their win streak to six and take over the top spot in the league ahead of the holidays, hosting the No. 1 Brantford Bulldogs, Saturday at 3 PM. Fans can buy tickets to the game here.
Jacob Titus
Writer, Ottawa 67’s
