Petes Eye Back-to-Back Victories in Consecutive Nights
The Peterborough Petes are set to face the Ottawa 67’s on the road at TD Place on a rare Wednesday night matchup. It is the fourth tilt between these two squads. The Petes hold a 2-1 edge in the season series. In their last match, Peterborough blasted Ottawa with quick strikes in the first and second period before holding back a late third period 67’s surge.
The mighty maroon and white enter Wednesday night with three wins in their last four games. The defeat, incurred on Dec. 2, featured a heroic effort to erase a five-goal deficit and tie the game before a late goal in regulation stopped Peterborough from gaining at least one point from the contest.
Since Mason McTavish joined the lineup, the Lift Lock lads have outscored opponents 16-11. McTavish, who potted goals on his first shots on Nov. 25 and Nov. 28, has collected five points – all goals – across three games.
In that time, Emmett Sproule has extended his point streak to 20 games, a feat unseen by a Pete since Nick Robertson recorded 19 points through 19 games during the 2019-20 regular season. Current Toronto Marlie Nick Robertson reached 19 games, accumulating 38 points. Sproule has 32 points so far with one goal and four assists in his last five games.
Tye Austin has posted three wins in his last four starts, displaying excellent recovery from an injury that kept him off the ice from Oct. 14 to Nov.18.
Peterborough has played five fewer games than Ottawa and, thus, are a lot closer in points value than their position in the standings suggests. Peterborough’s win percentage in 0.425 while Ottawa is at 0.480. A meagre 0.055 separates the teams.
Peterborough is going to battle a desperate 67’s club. Ottawa is winless in their last four games, not even registering a point while being outscored 4-15. Their top scorer is Cameron Tolnai with 25 points. He has been kept off the score sheet since producing an assist on the team’s lone goal against the Niagara IceDogs in a 6-1 affair on Dec. 2. Tolnai recorded points in each game facing the Petes with three assists (Nov. 5), one assist (Nov. 21), and one assist (Nov. 28).
X-FACTOR:
Forward Joe Carroll
Carroll is coming off a two-goal outing against the top team in the division, scoring the first goal to begin the rally and then adding another a minute before the second intermission to cut the deficit to two goals. Carroll has a wicked slapshot that can be lethal on the power play like it was on Dec. 2.
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Thursday marks the first meeting between the Petes and the Mississauga Steelheads at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. These two teams last met on Mar. 7, 2020, when Peterborough scored two goals in period one and period two to en route to a 5-1 victory.
Tucker Robertson collected two points (one goal and one assist) in four games against the Steelheads. McTavish registered three goals in that span.
The Petes split the season series with Mississauga in 2019-20, taking the first and last contest in decisive fashions.
On Oct. 26, 2019, the mighty maroon and white bombarded Mississauga’s net with goals, getting one in the first period before a second-period flurry of three followed by a storm of six goals in the final 20 minutes. The final score was 10-3 in favour of Peterborough.
The 5-1 win on Mar. 7, 2020, though closer, saw another dominating performance. When the Steelheads scored early in the third period to trim Peterborough’s lead, the Petes potted their fifth of the night nearly 10 minutes later, widening the margin and stunting Mississauga’s momentum.
X-FACTOR:
Forward Mason McTavish
McTavish has a scoring touch against Mississauga as he has with the North Bay Battalion. The Ducks prospect could score and score fast, especially with the roar of the Petes fans behind him. With three goals in four games, McTavish is going to be closely watched by Steelhead defenders.
