Guelph Powers Past Petes
After picking up four big points during a tough weekend to end January, the Petes embarked on their second consecutive three-in-three which began Thursday night with a tilt against the Guelph Storm. The Storm took it to Peterborough, scoring seemingly at will en route to a 9-4 road win.
The defending OHL champions opened the scoring with a nifty marker from Pius Suter, assisted by Givani Smith and Zac Leslie just 1:01 into the game. It only took three minutes for Peterborough to tie things up, though, with Kyle Jenkins tickling the twine for the first time as a Pete, drawing helpers from Josh Maguire and Nathan Pancel.
Guelph seemed to control most of the play through to the end of the second period, despite a Petes 12-11 shot lead when all was said and done. The Storm went ahead again as Jason Dickinson potted the puck from Leslie with five minutes to play in the first. Guelph starter Justin Nichols entertained fans with a nifty two-pad stack to stymie the Petes with a few ticks on the clock, and the visitors took their 2-1 lead into the intermission.
In the second period, Suter continued to give the Petes fits. The Switzerland native picked up his second of the game from Marchese and Nichols 1:47 into the second, and with 6:44 to play he finished off the hat trick with a nice tip-in assisted by Smith and Marchese, putting Peterborough behind 3-1.
There were no penalties in the game until 14:15 in the third, at which time the referees made up for lost time by calling five simultaneous roughing penalties. With the Petes taking just two of the five, they tested the powerplay unit who wasted little time pulling to within two goals. Eric Cornel fed Kyle Jenkins at the slot who patiently fired a slap pass to Pancel for the one-timer goal.
As the second period drew to a close, Guelph still led 4-2 but Peterborough held on to a 24-18 shot advantage.
In the third period, the Storm got off to yet another quick start as Tyler Bertuzzi scored on the powerplay just 47 seconds in, picking up helpers from Tyler Hill and Dickinson. Smith got on the goal-side of the scoreboard for the Storm just four minutes later, finishing off a play from Suter and Marchese to extend Guelph’s lead to four.
Peterborough got back on the scoreboard with Pancel netting his second of the night, assisted by Garlent and Masin. The Petes earned another powerplay just a few minutes later, looking to cut the lead to one, but it was Jason Dickinson who scored a shorthanded goal to extend Guelph’s lead to 7-4 in the third.
Guelph added another goal to double up the Petes 8-4 as Dickinson added a hat trick of his own, scoring from Phil Baltisberger late in the third period. When all was said and done, the Petes trailed 34-32 in shots and fell 9-4 to the Storm after a Tyler Hill shorthanded breakaway goal in the final minutes.
Suter, Dickinson, and Marchese were the Original Pond Gear first, second, and third stars of the game, respectively, while Kyle Jenkins earned Mark’s Work Wearhouse hardest working player honours.
Peterborough gets back at it on Saturday night against the Windsor Spitfires for the 6th annual Pink in the Rink game. Tickets are available here while supplies last, and don’t forget to follow the Petes on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
