RECAP: Kingston comes back from break on fire, defeating the Petes 9-1
Players and fans alike were looking forward to Thursday night as it marked the return of OHL hockey after the Christmas break. Your Kingston Frontenacs welcomed the visiting Peterborough Petes to the Limestone City for the first time this season, having only matched up against the Petes on their turf twice; splitting the season series to this point. After a refreshing nine day break, the Frontenacs were looking to kickstart their second half of the campaign with a win against a division rival.
It wasn’t the start that the black and gold were hoping for as the Petes would find their way onto the scoreboard first, after having dominated the opening few minutes of the contest. Petes’ forward Sam McCue (10) would score on a shot off of a rebound from a Chase Lefebvre chance with a man advantage; and just minutes into the game Peterborough would lead 1-0. Kingston would make sure to respond as Roman Schmidt would blast his first of the season and his first as a member of the Frontenacs by Petes goalie Liam Sztuska to make it a 1-1 game heading into the second period.
Kingston would control most of the play after getting on the board, and that would carry over into the second period where Chris Thibodeau would score his 9th of the season on a beautiful wrap around after a give and go with Jacob Battaglia. Seconds before the second came to a close, Jakub Chromiak would bury his 2nd of the season after a mad scramble in front of the Peterborough net. After multiple saves by Sztuska, the puck was cleared to the half wall and Chromiak fired it into the empty cage to give his side the 3-1 lead heading to the third period.
Although the score would make it seem like a close contest, the Frontenacs dominated play all night long; and in the third period the floodgates opened. Roman Schmidt quickly scored his 2nd of the night on a nearly identical play as his first goal with a booming slapshot from the point, and then Jacob Battaglia would find the back of the net for his 15th of the season just minutes later to make it a 5-1 game. Ethan Miedema would get in on the fun with a contender for goal of the year with a spectacular between the legs goal. Roman Schmidt fired a shot off the end boards and it popped out perfectly for Miedema to tuck it between his legs and into the back of the net for his 13th on the year, and definitely his best of the year.
In the final five minutes of action, Vann Williamson (2), Tyler Hopkins (3), and Chris Thibodeau (10) would put the exclamation point on this game to give Kingston a dominant 9-1 victory.
Next Five Games:
Sat, Dec 30th, 2023 | Kingston at Ottawa | 3:00 pm | TD Place
Mon, Jan 1st, 2024 | Kingston vs. Ottawa | 4:00pm | Leon’s Centre | New Year’s Day Game
Fri, Jan 5th, 2024 | Kingston vs. Mississauga | 7:00 pm | Leon’s Centre
Sat, Jan 6th, 2024 | Kingston at Ottawa | 3:00pm | TD Place
Thurs, Jan 11th, 2024 | Kingston at Peterborough | 7:05pm | Peterborough Memorial Centre
