Peterborough Petes Memorial Cup Hopes Dashed and Get Eliminated With 4-1 Loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds In the Semifinals

The Petes storybook season ends with a semifinal loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds in a 4-1 loss at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops as Peterborough is eliminated from the Memorial Cup on Friday night.

the Petes were a perfect 4-0 during the OHL playoffs and Memorial Cup in elimination games prior to playing in the semifinal. Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Petes.

The Petes were under duress right from puck drop as Seattle dominated time of possession as well as shots on net. They tested Petes' goaltender Michael Simpson early and often with 14 shots in the period. He stood strong however, stopping everything that came his way.

Peterborough was only able to muster five shots in the period however Brennan Othmann may have had the best opportunity but hit the crossbar and stayed out. The score remained a 0-0 tie after one.

The second period remained mostly the same as Seattle once again won the time of possession and shot battle throughout. Eventually, the Thunderbirds were rewarded on their 31st shot of the game and last of the period as Nico Myatovic wristed it on Simpson and the rebound came to Brad Lambert to swipe at it. The puck went through the five-hole and bounced the side of the left pad and went in for a 1-0 Seattle lead. This was Lambert’s first goal of the tournament and that was the score going into the third.

Seattle get their foot on the gas pedal as Lucas Ciona attempted to make a centering pass that went off a Petes’ skate. Off the broken play, Kyle Crnkovic scooped up the loose puck and passed it to Colton Dach who one-timed it home for a 2-0 lead, 88 seconds into the period.

Peterborough showing their resilience, saw Brennan Othmann get a puck alone in the slot off a turnover and slipped it five-hole past Thomas Milic to cut into the lead at 2-1. Just under seven minutes later, Seattle pressed again and had Simpson sitting down with the puck in front of him. Crnkovic rushed in and chipped it. Simpson snared the puck from out of the air but not before it crossed the line and extended Seattle’s lead to two, 3-1.

Peterborough pulled their goalie with less than three minutes in the game but Nico Myatovic deposited the empty-net goal and punched their ticket to the Memorial Cup finals with a 4-1 win.

Simpson stopped 43 of 46 shots on the night. Thunderbirds Crnkovic was named the player of the game.

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