Peterborough Petes Score Late For 3-2 Win; Hold 2-1 Series Lead Over Ottawa 67's

The Peterborough Petes crowd was excited and loud with a ‘white out’ as the team had a 3-2 win over the Ottawa 67’s thanks to a late third-period goal to lead the series 2-1 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Tuesday night.

The Petes had their first lead of game three with 1:15 left in teh third period. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Andersen and the Peterborough Petes.

Both teams had to feel each other out exchanging chances but Ottawa drew first blood with 1:49 left in the period. Brad Gardiner snared the puck out of the air and deked around Petes goaltender Michael Simpson. The former was able to make a cross-crease pass behind Simpson’s pads and Cameron Tolnai cleaned up on a wide-open net for a 1-0 lead after the first period.

Peterborough started to put their offensive prowess on display, getting 19 shots on goal for the period. The Petes tied it up when Avery Hayes saw a puck trickle out from a board battle behind the net. He slapped a one-timer past 67’s goaltender Max Donoso to tie the game at 1-1. The tie was short-lived as Luca Pinella forced an errant pass from Brian Zanetti to allow Cooper Foster score in the slot, uncontested just 10 seconds after the prior goal. Peterborough quickly retaliated 24 seconds later as J.R. Avon ripped a shot just after an offensive-zone faceoff and Jax Dubois pounced on the rebound to make it 2-2 going into the thrid.

The third period saw an impressive sequence for the Petes just under two minutes left in the game. Tolnai had a breakaway chance to possibly get a late lead but Konnor Smith made a diving play to poke the puck into the corner and prevent the scoring chance. Ottawa was forced to bring the pack back into the neutral zone but a mishandled pass by Ottawa allowed Brennan Othmann get a breakaway of his own. He tucked a backhand through Donoso’s five-hole to give the Petes a 3-2 lead with a minute remaining and the Petes held on for a 3-2 win.

Othmann, Dubois and Hayes were named the three stars of the game and hold a 2-1 series lead over the OHL regular-season champions.

The Petes are back in action for game four on Thursday to try and take a commanding 3-1 series over the Ottawa 67’s. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.