Comeback Bid Falls Short as Petes Drop Second Straight to Attack in Owen Sound
On Saturday, January 21, the Petes traveled to Owen Sound to take on the Attack on Hockey Day in Canada. The game was the third in a busy three in three for the Petes which saw them beat Oshawa on Thursday and fall to Guelph last night. Liam Sztuska was back in net for the Petes after a strong showing against Niagara last Saturday. Over his last three starts, Sztuska has stopped 104/110 shots, leading to three wins. The line of J.R. Avon, Tucker Robertson, and birthday boy Connor Lockhart, started the game for the Petes, after combining for seven points last night in Guelph.
The first period started off with a bang. Just a minute in, Ethan Burroughs fired a shot that beat Liam Sztuska, but not the post. The goal horn went off and the Attack players and fans began to celebrate. With all of that going on, Avery Hayes scooped up the puck and went down on a breakaway. Hayes made a beautiful move to the backhand to beat Attack goalie Corbin Votary and make it 1-0 Peterborough. The goal was Hayes 30th of the season, putting him just one behind OHL leader Matthew Maggio. The Attack came right back. Two minutes later, Colby Barlow would score two goals in just over two minutes to give the Attack the lead. Those two goals put Barlow into the OHL scoring lead with 32, knocking Hayes back to third. The Attack would hold the lead until the 17:03 mark when Chase Stillman and Brennan Othmann would team up for a beautiful one-timer, with Othmann getting the goal, to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the break. It was a busy first period with shots all tied up at 18-18.
The game would stay tied until nine minutes into the second period. Owen Sound OA forward Matthew Papais broke past the Petes D and drove the net. Liam Sztuska would pull off the two pad stack pokecheck, but that would take an awkward bounce and Kaleb Lawrence would jump on the loose puck to give the attack the 3-2 lead. After the goal, the Attack continued to put on the pressure, adding two goals before the end of the period to take a 5-2 lead into the third.
The third period saw the Petes get on the board first, kickstarting their hunt for a comeback. Connor Lockhart followed up on his own shot and poked the puck home to cut the Owen Sound lead to 5-3. That comeback attempt was short lived as the Attack would capitalize on a powerplay under a minute later to make it 6-3. The Petes would not give up that easy. Two minutes later J.R. Avon would tip in a Chase Stillman pass for his second goal in two games to make it 6-4. Unfortunately, that would be all they would get as the Attack added an empty netter to take it 7-4.
Chase Stillman led the way for the Petes with two assists on the night. Avery Hayes, Brennan Othmann, Connor Lockhart, and J.R. Avon all scored in the loss. Chase Lefebvre, Gavin White, and Sam Mayer all had an assist. Liam Sztuska stopped 38/44 shots faced.
The Petes are back in action on Thursday, January 26, when they host the London Knights at the PMC for Faith and Family Night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 PM. You can purchase tickets by clicking here, or by contacting the PMC Grant Thornton Box Office in person or at (705) 743-3561.
