Petes Eliminate Host Blazers with Comeback OT Win
On Thursday, June 1, the Peterborough Petes took on the host Kamloops Blazers in the Memorial Cup tie-breaker game. Both teams sat at 1-2 going into the game, with the winner advancing to tomorrow’s Semi-Final against the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Petes would be out for revenge, after Kamloops had a lopsided victory over the Maroon and White on Sunday. Peterborough looked to stay hot after a statement 4-2 win over the 1st place Quebec Remparts on Tuesday to force the tie-breaker.
Peterborough got out to a good start early. After a big time penalty kill, Connor Lockhart came out of the box and put a Jax Dubois pass right through the legs of Dylan Ernst to put the Petes up 1-0. Unfortunately for the Maroon and White, things went downhill from there. Kamloops would once again feed off of the energy of the hometown crowd and add three goals in the final 10 minutes of the first 20. Peterborough would have a couple more chances in the period, highlighted by a crossbar on the powerplay, but after the opening frame Kamloops would have a commanding 3-1 lead.
The second period began the way it did on Sunday, with the Blazers scoring and extending their lead. As the crowd started to count the Petes out, Peterborough did what they do best, fight back. It all started with a beautiful solo effort by Brennan Othmann to cut the deficit to two goals 7:50 into the period. The goal would give the Petes life and they would slowly start to control the play. With two and a half minutes left in the period, Sam Mayer blasted a point shot past Enrst to get the Petes within one. The momentum was all Peterborough in the final two minutes. With just over a minute left in the period, Brian Zanetti tipped home a pass to tie the game at 4-4 heading into the break.
The final frame would be a battle from start to finish. Both teams did whatever they could to get on the board. At the end of a hard fought 20, neither team would get on the scoresheet and the game headed to overtime. Eleven minutes into the overtime period, Peterborough native J.R. Avon buried the winning goal, eliminating the host Blazers and securing the Petes a spot in the Memorial Cup Semi-Finals.
ON REPEAT ALL TONIGHT https://t.co/2EQ9yxUhJZ
— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) June 2, 2023
J.R. Avon, Connor Lockhart, and Brian Zanetti all had a goal and an assist, while Jax Dubois had two assists. Brennan Othmann and Sam Mayer scored, while Tucker Robertson, Chase Lefebvre, and Owen Beck had an assist. Michael Simpson stopped 43/47 for the win.
The Petes are back in action for their Semi-Final Memorial Cup matchup on Friday, June 2 at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, BC. The game will be against the Seattle Thunderbirds with puck drop scheduled for 10:00 p.m. EDT. Fans can catch the games on TSN, Freq 90.5, Oldies 96.7, and Classic Rock 107.9.
