The Petes shared their 2-2 record with the Mississauga Rebels and Northern Ontario Hockey Association in the Lindros Division of the OHL Cup but had won out on tiebreakers.
The Petes had a good start, winning two straight games against the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (4-1) and Don Mills Flyers (6-1) on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Josh Avery, Wil McFadden and Kayden Buller scored a goal in each game while goaltender Masen Johnston rolled off back-to-back wins for Peterborough. The team rang off 10 consecutive goals during that two-game span.
Peterborough had a double-header on the final day of round-robin play, playing two games on Friday (one at 8:30 a.m. and another at 1:45 p.m.) before playoffs began.
Their third game was against the Waterloo Wolves and fell behind early, seeing a 2-0 deficit after 10:38 of play. Both teams traded goals since then up until 7:50 into the third period as Noah Vandenberg gave Waterloo a two-goal cushion, scoring and making it 5-3 late in the game. McFadden gave the Petes a jolt, scoring on the power play just over three minutes later to cut the deficit in half. Cohen Bidgood tied the game 1:38 later to make it 5-5 as overtime was required to determine a winner.
The victor was decided just under five minutes into the extra frame as the Wolves’s Brady Martin banged in his second of the game to give Waterloo a 6-5 overtime win over Peterborough.
The Petes played the Mississauga Rebels in a matinee game to round out their round-robin play. The Petes found themselves killing off a penalty but were rewarded with a shorthanded goal from Max Seon to go up 1-0. Peterborough conceded the next three goals from the Rebels early in the third period. The Petes mustered an empty-net goal thanks to Avery but it was too little, too late as they fell in a 3-2 loss.
The Petes start their playoff run against the Toronto Nationals in a quarterfinal matchup with puck drop at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday. The latter was the division leader in their round-robin bracket with a 3-1 record.
