The Peterborough Petes flew higher than the West division-leading Windsor Spitfires with five unanswered goals en route to a 6-2 win at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Thursday night.
The Petes had a tall order to fill as the Spitfires have been on a tear since acquiring the most recent fourth-overall pick and Seattle Kraken’s Shane Wright from the Kingston Frontenacs at the trade deadline. Winsdosr has been 9-0-1-0 in their last 10 leading the West with a playoff spot clinched.
The game started on the wrong foot for Peterborough as they allowed a shorthanded goal. Oliver Peer’s shot created a rebound chance for Nicholas DeAngelis to capitalize for a 1-0 lead for Windsor after the first.
Peterborough got redemption on their prior special teams blunder having a two-man advantage. Chase Stillman tipped a Gavin White point shot with a second before the first penalty expired for his eighth of the season and 50th of his OHL career. Windsor and league-leading scorer Matt Maggio got a feed from Wright for a breakaway chance and beat Petes goaltender Michael Simpson on the backhand for a 2-1 lead. In the last minute of the period, Peterborough in the dying seconds of the power play (yet again) saw Brennan Othmann feed J.R. Avon alone in front of the net, who deked around Windsor goalie Joey Costanzo and slipped it through for a 2-2 tie into the third period.
Peterborough took over in the final frame as Gavin White slapped a point shot that left a juicy rebound for Connor Lockhart to make it 3-2 for the Petes just under nine minutes in. putting away a rebound eight minutes in to give the Petes the lead. Donovan McCoy gave an insurance marker late in the game for Peterborough by going end-to-end and sniped in past Costanzo for the 4-2 lead. Avon added an empty netter for his second of the game and Konnor Smith added a point-shot goal for a 6-2 win and to hand Windsor their first regulation loss in February.
The Petes wrap up the season series with their rival, the Oshawa Generals on Friday on the road.