Owen Back helped the Peterborough Petes rally a huge comeback with a hat trick to defeat the Oshawa Generals 6-5 in overtime after overcoming a five-goal deficit at the Tribute Communities Centre on Sunday night.
The Petes had arguably their worst period of the season in the first, allowing five consecutive goals from the Generals. Beckett Sennecke scored the first two in 1:26 of the game, Calum Ritchie sniped one past Liam Sztuska and Rasmus Kumpulainen had back-to-back goals for Oshawa — including a power play goal — to cap off a five-goal period for the Generals heading into the second.
The Petes subbed in Zach Bowen in relief of Sztuska to start the second period. Peterborough broke the shutout as Beck rifled one from the point to make it 5-1. Peterborough got on the power play minutes later and Beck one-timed it from outside the faceoff circle near the point to make it 5-2. Peterborough kept up the pressure as seconds after a Petes power play expired, Samuel Mayer cross-ice pass to Jax Dubois, who buried a one-timer in front of the net, beating Generals goaltender Jacob Oster for a 5-3 game.
The Petes leaned on Beck again to close the gap. Donovan McCoy saw his point shot get saved but Beck got the rebound and sniped it home for a hat trick on the power play, giving the Petes a one-goal deficit. Peterborough forced a turnover in the defensive zone and started a rush into the Generals’s zone. Samuel Mayer got a pass in the neutral zone, took it past the blue line and slapped it past Oster to tie the game up.
In overtime, the Generals were in the offensive zone but Dylan Roobroeck broke his stick on a shot attempt and turned the puck over. While he was getting a new twig, the Petes had an odd-man rush with Beck and McCoy. The latter opted for a wraparound attempt but was stopped by an Oshawa defender. McCoy’s second attempt went in and Peterborough escaped Oshawa with a win.
The win capped off three straight wins in consecutive days to mark the perfect road trip, beating North Bay and Sudbury prior to Oshawa. Peterborough scored 19 goals during that three-game span.
The Petes return home at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Thursday in a showdown against the Windsor Spitfires. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.