Rookie stands tall for Petes
67’s overcome goalie’s heroics
By CHRIS STEVENSON
Making a point was as important as chasing two points, apparently, for Peterborough Petes coach Vince Malette last night.
The talk was Malette benched starting goaltender Trevor Cann for disciplinary reasons (a missed team meeting was the speculation) and the 67’s wound up taking both ends of their home-and-home set, posting a 4-0 win last night at the Civic Centre in front of a crowd of 8,199.
Jason Missiaen, a 6-foot-7 (and a quarter) rookie, started in goal for Peterborough and certainly wasn’t the reason the Petes, stripped of their offensive stars at the trade deadline, lost the game. They were outshot 54-28.
The win allowed the 67’s to get back to the .500-mark at 20-20-0-3 and move two points ahead of Peterborough for third place in the East Division. The 67’s also hold three games in hand.
After dropping four straight, these two games against the Petes and tomorrow’s matinee here against the Kingston Frontenacs are critical for Ottawa to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
BOUNCING BACK
"I thought we played well from start to finish," said 67’s coach-GM Brian Kilrea. "It started Thursday night (with the win in Peterborough). Winning that one was the big thing, bouncing back after last weekend. That was a big sigh of relief.
"I don’t think there’s anybody in the dressing room that doesn’t feel like they contributed tonight."
The Petes were in the game until Ottawa captain Derek Joslin scored on the power play to make it 3-0 four minutes into the third period and winger Jamie McGinn scored on a breakaway a minute later with a beautiful backhander into the top corner.
Brady Morrison picked up his third shutout of the OHL season.
Missiaen, a 16-year-old from Chatham, is an interesting prospect, given his size. He had appeared in just five games this season and was looking for his first win. He entered the game with a 6.60 goals-against average and an .859 save percentage.
FAST START
The 67’s dominated the opening period with the first shift by the "Crazy Eights" line setting the tone. Logan Couture, McGinn and Matt Lahey kept the Petes hemmed in their zone for pretty much the entire shift, putting the visitors on their heels.
The 67’s outshot the Petes 19-7 in the opening session, and got goals by Thomas Nesbitt (his fifth) and Matthieu Methot (his 12th and second in five games with Ottawa).
Nesbitt’s came on a nice pass by defenceman Tyler Cuma up the middle which was tipped ahead to Nesbitt by Methot. Using Peterborough defenceman Riley Brand as a screen, Nesbitt fired the puck through Brand’s legs and surprised Missiaen to the stick side just before the five-minute mark.
Methot scored his goal on a nice move from forehand to backhand to tuck it in the open side at 14:59.
Cuma also had an assist on McGinn’s goal to give him a couple of helpers on the night.
The Petes refused to quit under Malette, however, and had a number of good chances off their hard work.
67’s defenceman Joe Grimaldi loaned a helping hand with a couple of questionable penalties.
