Petes Blanked by IceDogs
Coming off a hard-fought 3-1 win over the Western Conference leading London Knights on home ice on Thursday night, the Petes were hungry for two points heading into St. Catharines on Saturday night. Despite a solid first half of the game, the 36-15-7-0 IceDogs were too hot for the maroon and white to handle.
The pace was quick and the stoppages were few in the opening frame, taking just 28 minutes to play from start to finish.
With chances at both ends of the Meridian Centre balanced between the clubs, it was the IceDogs that would crack the scoreboard. Drew Hunter found Oliver Castleman skating into the slot off of a Petes turnover before the latter ‘Dog beat Tye Austin to give his team a 1-0 lead at 7:52.
Niagara’s goal was the only mark to the score sheet through 20 minutes, with each team firing 13 shots on net.
Coming out on the wrong side of a great 20 minutes of hockey. Lots of time left!#GoPetesGo pic.twitter.com/EVQaUKUhfA
— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) February 24, 2019
Peterborough was awarded the first power play of the night as former IceDog Chris Paquette drew an interference call on Matt Brassard, but couldn’t convert on the chance.
Shortly after, a neutral zone turnover led to a Niagara odd-man rush that saw Jason Robertson tripped up, drawing a penalty. Before the infraction could be called, though, Robertson moved the puck to Minnesota Wild prospect Ivan Lodnia who, in his first game since mid-December, lifted the puck over Austin to extend Niagara’s lead to 2-0 mid-way through the stanza.
Down a pair of goals after 40 minutes, the Petes trailed 30-23 on the shot clock.
Going to need a big final 20.#GoPetesGo pic.twitter.com/IUHO4YBiAd
— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) February 24, 2019
The final period was all IceDogs as they tallied three more markers on route to their third straight win.
Lodnia started and finished the play that extended Niagara’s lead to 3-0. He dropped a between-the-legs pass to Jack Studnicka on the point who sent a feed to Robertson across the ice. Robertson opted to place the puck on the doorstep for Lodnia to tip past Austin at 4:47.
Studnicka and Robertson continued to connect, this time finding Phil Tomasino trailing in the slot to bury the IceDogs’ fourth of the game just 37 seconds later.
A rash of infractions for both teams preceded Castleman sealing the deal for the ‘Dogs at 12:19. Niagara’s only power play goal was set up by Tomasino and Roberts.
Final shots were 46-31 in favour of Niagara. Stephen Dhillon, Lodnia, and Tomasino were named the game’s first, second, and third stars, respectively.
The Petes are back in action on home ice on Sunday, February 24th to take on the Kingston Frontenacs at 2:05 pm. Tickets are available through the Baker Tilly Box Office in person, over the phone at (705) 743-3561, and online.
Help the Petes push for playoff positioning with a Playoff Push Flex Pack! For just $69.99 (tax included), fans will receive four regular bowl tickets, four popcorns, and four pops for any Petes home game in February or March. The regular price of this package is $125, which means fans save $55 on the special offer. Contact Mike at (705) 743-3681 x 263.
