Connor Lockhart's Hat Trick Propels Peterborough Petes In 5-4 Win, Regular-Season Champion Ottawa 67's Eliminated

The Peterborough Petes have knocked off the regular-season champion Ottawa 67’s in a nail-biting game six with a 5-4 win and won the series 4-2 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Monday night.

The Petes have yet to lose two consecutive playoff games and lose at home this postseason. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Andersen and the Peterborough Petes.

The Petes got rolling in the first as Owen Beck knocked down a puck in the offensive zone, passed to Chase Stillman who made a spinning backhand pass to Connor Lockhart for a one-timer goal to make it 1-0. Peterborough continued their offense as two minutes later, Brennan Othmann fed Avery Hayes another one-timer to make it 2-0. Ottawa was able to get one before the period’s end as Gavin Ewles ripped one from the high slot through traffic for a 2-1 game.

It was all Peterborough in the second period as Beck found Lockhart on a saucer pass from an odd-man rush and the latter was able to chip it backhanded, beating Ottawa goaltender Max Donoso to make it 3-1 Petes. Peterborough went right back on the attack as 30 seconds later, Jonathan Melee and the Petes with an outnumbered attack ripped it past Donoso to extend Peterborough’s lead to 4-1.

Lockhart continued where he left off as he completed the hat trick in the first minute of the third. Lockhart tried to feed Stillman for a one-timer but a spectacular save was made by backup goalie Collin MacKenzie but the rebound went back to Lockhart for his third of the game. Ottawa would not go quietly however much like game five, scoring four goals in the third period and erasing a three-goal deficit. In just under five minutes, Derek Smyth, Vinzenz Rohrer and Luca Pinelli scored to make it 5-4. The Petes were able to hang on this time and defeat Ottawa, eliminating the regular-season champions in six games. This is the Petes’s first Conference Championship since 2016-17.

Lockhart, Stillman and Beck were awarded three starts of the game.

Tickets for the Conference Championship go on sale Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. through the Grant Thornton Box Office. Peterborough will play the winner between the North Bay Battalion and the Barrie Colts who play game seven on Tuesday night.

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