Petes Extend Win Streak to Four Games in Season Finale
An afternoon where the Petes honoured Michael Simpson for being named OHL and CHL Goaltender of the Week, and their graduating overage players did not get off to quite as nice of start. Just 37 seconds into the game, Frontenacs’ overage D Lucas Peric’s sent a point shot that was headed wide right, but it was deflected by Paul Ludwinski past the right pad of Michael Simpson to give the Frontenacs an early 1-0 lead.
At 13:18, Chase Stillman kept an extended stretch in the offensive zone alive along the right wall. Stillman dished a soft saucer pass to the middle for JR Avon, who was streaking down the middle towards the net. Avon picked up the pass in the slot, edged closer to the Frontenacs net, and rifled a quick snapshot under Aidan Spooner’s left arm to even things up at one.
Avon with the SNIPE ????#GoPetesGo | @SUBWAY pic.twitter.com/7gT6GYqqjT
— X – Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) April 17, 2022
Things would stay tied for just two minutes. Frontenacs forward Nathan Poole gained the Petes zone from the left side of the ice and made a long cross-ice pass to D Thomas Budnick. Budnick then looked back across the ice with a pass to Gage Heyes just inside the left dot. Heyes corraled the pass and beat Michael Simpson with a well-placed snapshot shortside.
A minute and a half later, a Konnor Smith point shot caused a scramble to ensure in the Frontenacs crease. The puck shook loose to Emmett Sproule at the top of the crease, and he slid it over to Tucker Robertson at the left post to deposit past a disoriented Spooner. The 2-2 tying goal at 9:38 made Robertson a member of the prestigious 40-goal club, a milestone that just 14 players, Robertson included, have reached in the OHL this season.
Robertson buries his 40th of the season on the doorstep????????#GoPetesGo pic.twitter.com/Pz71utzRDm
— X – Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) April 17, 2022
A back-and-forth period in the goal-scoring department finished all tied up at two, with the Petes leading the shot advantage 20-7.
Just inside the 15-minute mark of the second, the Petes took advantage of a bad change by Kingston. Konnor Smith sprung Nick Lardis for a partial breakaway starting at the blue line. Lardis was at a standstill, so he unselfishly poked the puck ahead to Emmett Sproule, who had more momentum and a cleaner breakaway opportunity. Sproule went in all alone, froze Spooner at the top of his crease, and made a swift move to the backhand for the easy finish. Sproule’s 29th goal of the year gave the Petes their first lead of the afternoon by a score of 3-2.
???? GOAL ????@Emmett9393, pls wash your hands bc this is filthy ????????#GoPetesGopic.twitter.com/jU560cjoiU
— X – Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) April 17, 2022
Our overagers were honoured before this afternoon’s game, and they came to play. With just under five minutes remaining in the middle frame, Joe Carroll made a give-and-go pass to Jax Dubois to evade a defender. Carroll had to fend off a second back checker on the return pass, and did so successfully, leaving nobody between him and Spooner. Carroll hesitated, made a move to his forehand, and roofed it just under the crossbar. Carroll’s 25th of the season extended the Petes’ lead to 4-2.
.@joe_carroll19 roofs it to give us a 4-2 lead ????#GoPetesGo pic.twitter.com/aZNoEjETIv
— X – Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) April 17, 2022
The Petes concluded a near-perfect second ahead 4-2, allowing them to take a lead into the final frame of the regular season.
Five and a half minutes into the third, the maroon and white were docked for a too-many-men bench minor. Halfway through the kill, Emmett Sproule pressured a Frontenacs puck carrier at the top of the Petes zone, successfully forcing a turnover, and sending himself and Tucker Robertson in on a short-handed 2-on-1. Sproule held onto the puck patiently until the Frontenacs last D back left his feet in an attempt the take away a passing lane. At that moment, Sproule slowed down, made a slight shift to the middle, and fed a pass across to Tucker Robertson for the far side tap-in. The score was now 5-2.
Sproule ➡️ Robertson ????
Tucker picks up his league-leading 8th shorthanded goal to make it a 5-2 game!#GoPetesGo | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/9aPrzGDGQN
— X – Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) April 17, 2022
Shortly after a successful kill, the Petes went down a man again for boarding. On the ensuing powerplay, Alec Belanger sent a high shot from the point toward Simpson that Paul Hughes managed to get a stick on to deflect past Simpson, just how the first Frontenacs goal transpired. Hughes’ 5th goal this year narrowed the Petes lead to 5-3.
Kingston pulled Spooner for the extra attacker the Sproule took advantage of that with 1.5 seconds left. The overage joined the 30 goal club for the first and final time in his OHL career.
EMPTY NETTER ????@Emmett9393 scores his second goal of the hockey game to end the regular season with career-high 30 goals!#GoPetesGo pic.twitter.com/O73CIEikep
— X – Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) April 17, 2022
The next time the Petes are in action will be for Game 1 of their first round series against the Hamilton Bulldogs on Thursday, April 21st at 7:00 pm. The Playoff matchup can be seen on Channel 700 on YourTV Peterborough or listened to on Freq 90.5 on your radio.
