Chatten backstops Petes into Semi-Finals
The Peterborough Petes have earned a semifinal berth at the 2024 OHL Cup presented by FPS Payment after a 2-1 victory over the Oshawa Generals Thursday afternoon.
Goaltender Lewis Chatten was excellent, making 29 saves as Peterborough outlasted OMHA East rival Oshawa.
The game started out very physical and quick with not a lot of stoppages and it was the Generals that got on the board first.
While on the power play Jordan Booner (2) wristed a shot that went through the pads of Chatten to give Oshawa a 1-0 lead just 1:33 into the game. The rest of the first period would see both teams have many scoring chances but both goaltenders, Chatten and Oshawa’s Chase Petrova, were up to the challenge.
In the second, it took Peterborough just 32 seconds to get on the board and tie the game up at one.
Colin Fitzgerald had the puck along the half boards and found Nolan Buttar streaking into the slot and sent him a pass and Buttar found the back of the net.
Being that there were only two penalties in the entire game, both teams were playing competitively, physically and fairly which was part of the reason why it was a low-scoring contest.
Heading into the final 20 minutes of play, both teams knew it was going to be a real tight battle to the finish, but it would be Fitzgerald (8) who would play hero.
“I think I just kicked the puck out to Soots [Matthew Souter] and I just drove the net as fast as I could,” said the 12-point player who recorded six goals in the round-robin, “I didn’t care if it went top corner or five-hole. I just wanted to win so bad and we did just that.”
The Petes are still undefeated after posting a 4-0 record in the round robin and now winners in their quaterfinal match.
“You always have to prepare for them [Vaughan Kings] when they’ve been at the top all season, but right now we’re the team to beat to be honest and I think we’re on a roll and nobody’s going to stop us.”
For Oshawa, they finished the tournament with a 3-1-1 record after finishing second in the Shanahan Division. They were led offensively by Jordan Bonner who finished with six points (2-4-6) over five games played.
The Peterbrough Petes and the Vaughan Kings will play tonight in the second semifinal game at 8:00pm with a spot in the 2024 OHL Cup Final on the line.
ZEPHYR PLAYER OF THE GAME
Oshawa– Chase Petrova (G) — 17SV
Peterborough– Lewis Chatten (G) — 29SV