Petes Skate to a 5-2 Win Against the Spirit
The Peterborough Petes hosted the Saginaw Spirit on Thursday night, looking to end a five-game winless streak. Saginaw and Peterborough entered the game each sitting in sixth place in their respective conferences. Peterborough scored early and maintained their lead to pick up their second 5-2 win against the Spirit this season.
Despite a few early Peterborough chances, Saginaw controlled the majority of the first five minutes, but Andrew D’Agostini was solid between the pipes. As the period progressed, the teams traded unsuccessful powerplay attempts, but despite the shots piling up no-one could find the back of the net.
Just past the six minute mark, Nelson Armstrong made an athletic play to hold the puck at the Saginaw blue line. He walked in around several Spirit defenders, and beat one of Canada’s best goalies in Jake Paterson to make it 1-0 Petes in the first frame.
The game continued at a feverish pace past the mid-way mark of the first, with D’Agostini making a number of great saves, stymying the Spirit on several odd-man rushes. Later in the frame, with Saginaw finding themselves in penalty trouble, the Petes took advantage of a 5-on-3 powerplay as Brandon Devlin ripped a one-timer off the post and in assisted by Nick Ritchie and Nelson Armstrong with just 53 seconds to play.
The period ended with the Petes holding on to a 2-0 lead. D’Agostini stopped all sixteen Saginaw shots in the opening stanza, while Paterson turned aside twelve of fourteen Petes chances.
The second period opened with another Petes powerplay, but they were unable to convert on the man advantage. After a great shift by a Petes line including Stephen Nosad, who made his first start since an injury on January 9th, Saginaw’s Dylan Sadowy streaked down the left wing and beat an unsuspecting D’Agostini short-side to make it 2-1 Petes assisted bySean Callaghan.
Both teams were desperate to score next, but it was Saginaw who was successful in tying the game. Cody Payne ripped a backhander for the Spirit’s second goal of the period, drawing helpers from Jeremiah Addison and Cody Payne at 11:03 in the period.
The home-town squad would bounce back, though, as Brandon Devlin picked up his second on the night to make it 3-2, assisted by Josh MacDonald and Steve Varga with 4:04 to play in the middle frame. The clock ticked to zero in the second with no additional goals, and the Petes took a 3-2 lead into the locker room despite a 30-22 Saginaw shot advantage.
Much like in the second, the Spirit controlled the opening minutes of the third period, but the Petes held their ground early on. Just 2:19 into the period, Greg Betzold banked the puck off two defenders and found the back of the net to bring the score to 4-2, assisted by Anthony Stefano.
Just before the ten-minute mark, a glass pane shattered causing a delay for several minutes as the Memorial Centre Rink Crew went to work. Neither team lost a step during the stoppage, though, as the high-octane action continued well past the mid-way point of the third.
As time wound down in regulation, Saginaw was unable to find another hole in D’Agostini. Nick Ritchie added an empty net goal assisted by Josh MacDonald and Michael Clarke, and the Petes sealed a big 5-2 win to end a winless slump.
The Petes are on the road in Mississauga and Belleville this week-end, and are at home against the hated Oshawa Generals next Thursday, February 27th. Tickets are still available here, and make sure you follow the Petes on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all of the best news, updates, and contests.
Fans are also invited to attend the big team announcement at the PMC next Tuesday at 1:30pm, and don’t forget to enter a chance for you and a guest to attend the Subway Players Party on Tuesday at 5:30pm.
