On Sunday, May 21, the Peterborough Petes hosted the London Knights for game six of their best of seven OHL Championship Series. The Petes would have their second chance to clinch the J. Ross Robertson Cup, after falling 4-1 to the Knights in game five in London. The higher seeded Knights would be looking to force a game seven tomorrow night in London with a win. It would be deja vu for the Petes with a win on the night, after clinching their last OHL Championship in 2006 on home ice against the Knights.
The first period would be all Peterborough from the drop of the puck. Feeding off of the home crowd (14th straight PMC sell out), the Petes would fire puck after puck at the London net, but despite a number of chances, wouldn’t be able to get on the board through the first 20. Going the other way, Michael Simpson looked very strong for the Maroon and White, stopping all 10 shots faced in the period. With no offence in the first, the game would go to the break in a scoreless tie.
The second period would see the Petes control the play once again, but no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn’t seem to break the deadlock. That is, until the 13:33 mark. With the Petes forchecking, playoff veteran Avery Hayes threw a seemingly harmless backhand on net that would beat Owen Willmore and give the Petes the 1-0 lead. Right after taking the lead, the Petes looked to quickly double it on a Brennan Othmann breakaway, but the play was ruled offside. The Petes would fire up their defence to finish the period, highlighted by a Donovan McCoy save on an open net to hold the lead. Going into the third period, the Petes would lead 1-0.
The third period would begin with a massive Petes penalty kill to hold their lead. Even with the big penalty kill, London would keep on coming. At the 7:59 mark of the period, London would finally break Simpson’s wall to tie the game. London may have tied the game, but there was something in the air at the PMC. Just three minutes later, Tucker Robertson tipped home a Donovan McCoy shot to give the Petes back the lead, igniting the record PMC crowd of 4,101. From there, Simpson save after Simpson save and shot block after shot block secured the Petes 2-1 win. With the win, the Petes won their 10th J. Ross Robertson Cup and qualified for the 2023 Memorial Cup.
Michael Simpson led the way for the Petes, stopping 36/37 for his 16th win of the playoffs. Tucker Robertson had a goal and an assist, while Avery Hayes added a goal. Brennan Othmann, Cam Gauvreau, and Donovan McCoy all had an assist.
After the game, Michael Simpson was awarded the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as the 2023 OHL Playoff MVP.
The Petes are back in action for their first Memorial Cup game on Saturday, May 27 at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, BC. The game will be against the WHL Champion with puck drop scheduled at 8:00 p.m. EDT. Fans can catch the games on OHL Live, TSN, Freq 90.5, Oldies 96.7, and Classic Rock 107.9.
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