Petes doubled up on by rival Generals
Emmett Sproule increased his point streak to five games with a goal in addition to Sam Alfano and Jax Dubois lighting the lamp against the arch-rival Oshawa Generals in a 6-3 loss at the Tribute Communities Centre.
The Generals controlled possession for the first five minutes of the game, registering fives shots on goal before the Petes tested Zachary Paputsakis once. Despite not generating much in terms of offence, Kaspars Ziemens made sure that the rival Generals felt their presence in other ways… with a huge hit on the forecheck.
Safe to assume Kaspars Ziemins doesn’t like the Generals #GoPetesGo pic.twitter.com/GXNOoYxJMY
— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) February 13, 2022
A slow start to the afternoon eventually caught up to the Petes. Just after the 13-minute mark of the first had passed, the Petes had a delayed penalty call for hooking. Before the Petes could touch the puck, Generals import forward Oskar Olausson deferred the puck to Ty Tullio along the right wall on the zone entry and drove the net from the middle. Tullio dished it back to Olausson, who deflected the return pass over the blocker hand of Tye Austin to give the Generals a 1-0 lead.
With 5:23 remaining in the first, the Petes went down a man for real this time as a result of a check to the head minor penalty. The PK unit kept chances against to a minimum for the first minute, and Tye Austin made a nice save towards the end, which resulted in a successful kill.
The Petes were outshot 14-4 and trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.
Shortly after the Petes killed off a roughing penalty that carried into the second, Petes D Brian Zanetti drew a tripping penalty in the defensive zone, sending the Petes to the man advantage. The Petes had no shortage of chances on the powerplay. Tucker Robertson set up Emmett Sproule for a one-timer on his strong side that an outstretched Paputsakis managed to get his left foot on. Ziemens was also denied on a breakaway just as the penalty expired.
The Petes went down a man towards the middle of the frame for the third time of the night, but the best chance came from the Peterborough Petes’ dangerous short-handed unit. Chase Stillman went in on a partial breakaway from the right side of the ice, but he got jammed up in tight by a combination of a deke attempt to his backhand and pressure from behind.
At the 7:41 mark of the second period, the Petes top line finally broke through. An initial shot from Stillman bounced up high off of Paputsakis, causing the Generals’ goaltender to lose sight of the puck momentarily. Sproule managed to locate the puck as it dropped near the right post, and he deposited it in the back of the net to extend his point streak to five games. Tye Austin notably picked up the secondary assist, which was his first assist of the season, on the play after making a big save at the other end.
???? SPROULE ????@Emmett9393 scoops the puck past Paputsakis for his 18th of the season!#GoPetesGo | @SUBWAY pic.twitter.com/nxYu5T7zAJ
— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) February 13, 2022
The Generals had a very quick response to the Petes equalizer just under two minutes later on a delayed penalty. Generals forward Stuart Rolofs received a pass from behind the goal line from Brett Harrison to his forehand slide in the low slot. He promptly placed a snapshot to the top right corner past a stickless Tye Austin to negate the penalty.
Seventeen seconds later, the Petes took another penalty, this time for high-sticking. On the ensuing powerplay, Generals captain Ty Tullio received a centering pass from Brett Harrison in front of the net, which was quickly directed behind Austin for the 3-1 insurance marker.
The Generals took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
The Petes began the third period on the powerplay after Cam Butler took a roughing minor after the final buzzer of the second period. One second after the penalty had ended, Joe Carroll sent a mid-height shot towards the Generals’ net. Sam Alfano, who was screening in front, managed to get a stick on it and drastically redirect the puck to the bottom left corner of the net past Paputsakis. Alfano’s 11th goal of the year narrowed the Generals’ lead, 3-2.
Puck gets tipped and the lamp is lit ????
Alfano puts his stick on @joe_carroll19‘s shot to pick up his 11th of the season! @Avonjr_1010 is credited with the secondary assist.#GoPetesGopic.twitter.com/aR7agbgGz8
— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) February 13, 2022
Near the midpoint of the third period, an errant high stick put the Petes short-handed for the sixth time of the night. On the powerplay, Oskar Olausson collected the puck at the top of the offensive zone and curled towards the middle of the ice. He recognized that there was traffic in front of the net, and he released a well-placed medium velocity wrist shot that got through everyone, beating Austin short side. Olausson’s second of the night allowed the Generals to regain their two-goal lead.
With three and half minutes left in the final frame, the Petes executed an early goalie pull to get an extra attacker on the ice. A miscue just outside of the Petes defensive zone landed on the tape of Generals forward Oskar Olausson, who put away his hattrick goal and extended the Generals lead to 5-2.
The Petes were not ready to pack it up just yet! Ryan Gagner let go of a shot from high in the offensive zone that bounced off of the backboards to the near side of the net for Jax Dubois to pounce on for his 6th goal of the season.
GOAL ????@ryangagner1 sends a shot off the end boards and Jax Dubois banks it in for his 6th of the season!#GoPetesGo pic.twitter.com/BppqH3WiT0
— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) February 13, 2022
Tye Austin would leave the net again, as the Petes tried to make a last-ditch comeback attempt, but the same fate would be suffered as a result of the goalie pull. Ryan Stepien put back the Generals sixth goal of the night, solidifying a 6-3 Generals win and snapping the Petes two-game win streak.
The Petes next game goes Thursday night at 7:05 p.m., as they take on the Sudbury Wolves at the Sudbury Community Arena. You can watch on Channel 700 on YourTV Peterborough or tune into Freq 90.5 on your radio.
