Austin Leads Petes to Shootout Win

Scoring chances on both ends saw this contest be defined by incredible goaltending. Tye Austin made a whomping 40 saves, including 11 in the first 10 minutes. It was enough as the Peterborough Petes edged the Ottawa 67’s in a shootout at TD Place on Friday night. Joe Carroll picked up the Petes’ lone regulation goal as well as the game-winning goal.

Heroic efforts from Tye Austin kept the 67’s off the board early. The Pembroke, Ont. native started with a huge save against Adam Varga on a partial breakaway two minutes and 4o seconds into regulation. Then made another two minutes later. However, the Ottawa 67’s squeaked one past Austin after the Peterborough netminder made an initial jaw-dropping stop.

Austin’s athleticism led to two more quality saves in the game’s opening 10 minutes.

The Petes’ best chance came off a steal in the Ottawa zone. Dubois lifted the stick of the Ottawa skater and quickly shot the puck, catching Ottawa’s Max Donoso by surprise.

The Mighty Maroon and White trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes and were outshot 15-5.

Peterborough immediately responded to the lack of offense in the first period with a goal off a offensive faceoff, making the score 1-1. J. R. Avon won the draw and pushed the puck behind him where Carroll wristed the puck through a pair of screens to record his 16th goal on the season.

A perfectly executed faceoff 👌🏻🚨#GoPetesGo | @SUBWAY pic.twitter.com/NPkResq9Nz

— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) March 12, 2022

Austin came up big nearly five and a half minutes into the middle period that sent a roar from the visitors’ bench. Facing a two-on-zero rush, Austin sprawled in desperation, blocking a impressive one-timer setup from Brady Stonehouse to Tyler Boucher.

.@tye32austin may be 6'6", 200 lbs, but this is why they call him a BRICK WALL 🧱#GoPetesGo | @OHLHockey pic.twitter.com/sOs4chJBur

— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) March 12, 2022

On the other end, the Petes had a great chance to score courtesy of Avon. Avon accelerated past Ottawa’s defense to create a partial breakaway and shot the puck on his backhand before being denied by Donoso.

Austin robbed Boucher once again seven minutes into the second. The Ottawa Senators prospect rushed into the zone undetected and tipped the puck toward Austin’s net on a cross-ice pass. The third year goaltender denied Boucher’s initial shot and then made another superb stop on the rebound opportunity.

The teams ended the period tied 1-1. Peterborough led in shots in the period 13-11, but trailed in overall attempts 26-18.

The third period extended the stream of amazing saves. 67’s LW Thomas Johnston blazed past everyone through the neutral zone. Once across the blue line, Johnston lasered the puck, but Austin’s glove was too quick.

Then the Petes made their charge. Rookie defenceman Konnor Smith blasted a quality shot with Tucker Robertson screening in front. His shot was caught by Donoso.

The majority of possession steered toward Austin for the next 10 minutes, but the Petes goaltender remained a brick wall.

With four minutes remaining, the Mighty Maroon and White found themselves on the penalty kill. The PK unit, who holds the second most short-handed goals in the OHL with 13 tallies, attacked Ottawa on every opportunity. Avon stole a backwards pass and sped straight to Donoso, who sprung the glove out to keep the game tied. Avon made another intelligent play when he stole the puck and drew a tripping penalty, eliminating Otttawa’s power play.

Sixty minutes was not enough for these clubs. Shots, which totaled 60 combined, were 35-25 in favor of the Barber Poles.

Overtime featured wide open hockey that Petes fans had not seen all season. Austin stopped pucks with every part of his body. In a climatic fashion, Austin had to make a last second save to push extra time into a shootout.

Vinzenz Rohrer opened the shootout only to be denied by Austin. Then, Robertson was stopped by Donoso. Jack Beck was up next for the 67’s and he scored on Austin, which meant that Petes leading scorer Emmett Sproule had to convert on his attempt or the Petes lose. Sproule slipped the puck under Donoso’s pads to keep the Petes alive. Boucher’s attempt failed and then, with the game on his stick, Carroll skated to center ice. Carroll went wide left, cut back to center, and deked out Donoso to clinch Peterborough’s first shootout victory of the year.

.@joe_carroll19 understood the assignment 🚨#GoPetesGo pic.twitter.com/bHqaYle73E

— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) March 12, 2022