Wrangled in the Petes
Brampton, ON – Powered by a monster performance from Konnor Smith, the Brampton Steelheads overpowered the Peterborough Petes to the tune of a 6-1 victory.
The Steelheads pressed off the opening draw. After the puck was poked forward, Porter Martone jumped through the crowd to drive the puck down the left wing. Martone tried to connect with Luke Misa on the backdoor, but his pass bounced off Petes’ netminder Easton Rye into the corner.
Both sides came inches from the tying breaker at the thirteen-minute mark. First, following a dumb on the Peterborough net, Aidan Lane deflected Easton Rye’s breakout pass. Mason Zebeski jumped into the play grabbing the puck off the wall and finding Lucas Karmiris in the slot. Karmiris quickly returned a pass to Mason Zebeski on the back door, but his deflection rang iron. Then, after the Petes brought the puck up ice, Braydon McCallum found Carson Cameron in the slot. The smooth skating defenceman toe dragged into a shot, but his bid clanked off the post.
Just before the halfway mark in the period, Brampton found the equalizer. Luke Misa started the play by wrapping around the Petes’ net to find Konnor Smith at the point. The Veteran blue liner fired a shot toward the goal where it died in traffic. Thankfully for the Steelheads, Porter Martone was waiting right on the doorstep. The captain dragged to the backhand, deking around Rye to bury it into the empty net. His 35th goal of the season gave Brampton a 1-0 lead.
The Steelheads were not done yet, as just over thirty seconds later they doubled their lead. When Mason Zebeski and Aidan Lane bore down on the forecheck, the duo forced a turnover allowing them to find Parker Von Richter at the point. The Mississauga native went D-to-D finding Konnor Smith across the ice. Smith dusted the puck off before firing a shot on goal. With a screen in front, Easton Rye was unable to find the puck as it snuck past him. Smith’s third goal in as many games made it 2-0 Trout.
Following a double-minor to Stevie Leskovar, the Petes ended the period with a four-minute power play. Despite being down a man, it was the Steelheads who looked more dangerous on the kill. A fantastic forecheck from Mason Zebeski and Lucas Karmiris disrupted the Peterborough powerplay allowing Brampton to kill it off.
After a relatively slow start to the first period, there was no shortage of action at the beginning of the second frame. First, the Petes stormed up the ice on an odd-man rush. Brennan Faulkner broke the line before finding Aiden Young in the middle. The London native quickly snapped the puck to a wide-open Martin Matejicek in the slot. The Jihlava native wasted no time, hammering it over the glove of Brayden Gillespie to cut the lead in half.
A minute later, the Petes looked to tie the game. Brady Stonehouse started the play along the boards where he won a battle before throwing a pass to the front of the net. Gavin Bryant showed off his soccer skills, as he reached back with his leg to kick the puck on net. Brayden Gillespie sprawled out to make the save, showing off his footwork to kick the puck away from the goal line.
Less than a minute later, the Steelheads regained their two-goal lead. In a similar play to their last goal, Kieran Witkowski bounced a pass to Parker Von Richter at the point. Again he found his partner across the ice. This time, Konnor Smith picked his spot unleashing a bullet to the top corner. Smith’s second of the night doubled the Brampton lead.
With four minutes left in the period, Brampton connected for their fourth goal of the night. After Stevie Leskovar kept the puck in at the line, a pair of Steelheads showed off their fancy footwork for the goal. When Leskovar found Mason Zebeski in the slot, his initial pass attempt was blocked. Zebeski stuck with it, kicking the puck to his stick and sending it towards the goal. Gabe Chiarot caught his pass with his foot going skate to stick to drive around a sprawled Rye to bury the puck into the empty cage.
Just like at the end of the opening frame, the Petes had a glorious power play opportunity to close out the middle period. Following a pair of Steelheads’ penalties, Peterborough went to a 5-on-3 power play, but they were unable to organize. The failure to set up allowed the Steelheads to kill off the first infraction before Mason Zebeski drew a penalty sending it to four-on-four.
The Steelheads continued to pile on at the start of the final period of play. When Parker Von Richter rimmed the puck around the Peterborough zone, MacGregor Richmond jumped in from the wall to pick up the puck. Richmond circled behind the Petes’ net where he spun a backhand pass towards the point. Konnor Smith activated from the line, stepping into a mammoth one-timer. The former Petes’ blast sailed over the shoulder of Rye to give Brampton a 5-1 lead. In his last game against the team that drafted him, Konnor Smith tallied his first hat trick as a Steelhead.
Brampton kept their foot on the pedal, adding another goal at the ten-minute mark in the final frame. While on the man advantage, Konnor Smith found Jakub Fibigr down low. The Czech defender chipped a shot on goal that was turned aside by Rye. the rebound kicked right to Gabe Chiarot on the back door who hammered the loose puck into the back of the net. On Chiarot’s goal, Konnor Smith recorded his fifth point of the night tying a Steelheads record for most points in a game from a defenceman.
With four minutes to play, the Trout came inches from a highlight reel goal. While on another power play, Konnor Smith found Porter Martone in front. The Steelheads captain pulled the puck between his legs to throw a shot on goal, but it was swallowed up by Easton Rye.
Tensions boiled over in the final minutes, as the Trout held on to a 6-1 victory over the Peterborough Petes.
The Steelheads are back in action on Sunday when they host the Kingston Frontenacs for our fan appreciation night! You will not want to miss out on the fun, so grab your tickets here!
