Petes Beat Steelheads 5-4 in Back-And-Forth Tilt
The Peterborough Petes hosted the Mississauga Steelheads at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Thursday night. Heading into the game, Mississauga sat just two points back of the Petes for sixth spot in the Eastern Conference. Petes Head Coach Jody Hull was forced to miss the game due to a nasty flu bug, which also kept star winger Nick Ritchie out of the lineup. Peterborough was solid throughout the game, though, and held on for a 5-4 victory to maintain their standing in the East.
The beginning of the first period was made for fans, with fast and furious action featuring hard hits and non-stop action as both teams registered chances early on. The Petes got on the board first as Brandon Devlin scored 4:42 into the opening frame assisted by Hunter Garlent. With Andrew D’Agostini and Spencer Martin making big saves in their respective nets, it wasn’t until 10:01 in the first that Devlin and Garlent hooked up again, with newcomer Garlent beating Martin, assisted by Devlin to give the Petes a 2-0 lead.
Both teams tightened up slightly as the period progressed, as each defence looked strong. Mississauga was able to solve D’Agostini before time expired, though, cutting the Petes’ lead to 2-1 off the stick of Sam Babinstev, assisted by Artem Rasulov and Greg DiTomaso at 18:04. Peterborough maintained its 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission, with the shots tied at eight apiece.
The mighty maroon and white came out flying in the second period, and Eric Cornel – fresh off an airplane from the NHL Top Prospects Game in Calgary – buried a rebound assisted by Garlent and Jonatan Tanus just 49 seconds in. The Steelheads were quick to respond, though, and DiTomaso scored a goal of his own 5:54 into the second, drawing assists from Bobby MacIntyre and Andrew Goldberg.
Less than four minutes later, rookie Anthony Stefano widened the Petes’ lead once again, making it 4-2 with assists from Josh Maguire and Steve Lorentz. The goals kept on coming in the second, with Mississauga and Peterborough each scoring once more before the period was over. Nelson Armstrong fired a wrist-shot over a sprawling Martin from Greg Betzold andMichael Clarke to put the Petes up 5-2.
With just 34 seconds to go in the frame, Babintsev picked up another late-period goal assisted by Sean Day and Rasulov. As the clock ticked to zero in the second, the Petes were still up 5-3 and were ahead 24-20 on the shot clock.
In the third period, Mississauga seemed poised for a come-back. 7:34 into the final period, Brett Foy brought the score to 5-4 from Stefan LeBlanc and Jared Walsh. The Steelheads continued to press for the tying goal, but D’Agostini and the Petes’ defence stood on their collective head through the middle of the frame, killing off a lengthy five-on-three Mississauga powerplay.
As the Steelheads put the pressure on, Peterborough showed signs of growth from earlier in the season, effectively and efficiently holding the Mississauga attackers at bay as time wound down on the game. When the final buzzer sounded, the Petes had maintained their 5-4 lead, picking up a valuable two points.
Hunter Garlent, Brandon Devlin, and Andrew D’Agostini were the first, second, and third stars of the game, while rookie defenceman Cam Lizotte was the Mark’s Work Wearhouse Hardest Working Player of the Game. Peterborough ended the game with a modest 29-28 shot lead.
The Petes’ next game is at home on Saturday against the Sarnia Sting, who are bringing star scorers Nikolay Goldobin and Anthony DeAngelo, along with rookie sensation Nikita Korstelev. Tickets are still available here, and don’t forget to follow the Petes on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest updates!
