On the road just 24 hours after their victory against the Mississauga Steelheads at the PMC, the Peterborough Petes traveled to Kitchener for the only time this season to take on the Kitchener Rangers. The red hot Rangers, coming off of an OT loss to Owen Sound, entered the game 6-0-1-0 in their last seven games. The Petes were looking to extend their three game win streak to four with a win on the road.
The first period started off even, with both teams tied in shots half way through the frame. That would stay the same until 17:38 into the period when Rangers defenceman Roman Schmidt would be thrown out of the game for a slew foot on Chase Stillman. The major penalty came at the beginning of a Kitchener penalty kill, resulting in a 1:48 two man advantage for the Petes, followed by 3:12 of a man advantage. Just a minute into the five on three, J.R. Avon would continue his hot streak and score to put the Petes up 1-0 late in the period. The Petes had a couple more chances in the final minute, but the game would stay 1-0 heading into the break. Shots were 10-9 Kitchener after one.
The second period saw Kitchener come out firing, controlling the game for the first half of the middle 20. Liam Sztuska, in his first start since December 4th, would stand tall and keep the Rangers off of the board. Nine minutes into the period, J.R. Avon would pick up a Connor Lockhart pass and make a move to the backhand to extend the Petes lead to 2-0. The goal was Avon’s seventh in his last three games. The Petes would completely take over after the goal, with Tucker Robertson scoring two goals in four minutes to make it 4-0 Petes heading into the final 20. Despite the Petes big lead, the Rangers still led 23-22 in shots after two.
Just over a minute into the third period, Tucker Robertson would rip a beautiful shot on the powerplay to make it 5-0. The goal was Robertson’s third straight of the game, resulting in a natural hat trick (Tucker’s second hat trick of the season). Kitchener would add two powerplay goals in the period, but Liam Sztuska would hold them to only that, stopping 33/35 for the win. Justin DeZoete added an empty net goal as the icing on top to give the Petes a 6-2 win.
Tucker Robertson led the way for the Petes with a natural hat trick and an assist. Connor Lockhart had his second four assist night in three games, and J.R. Avon continued his hot streak scoring two and adding an assist. James Guo had two assists, Justin DeZoete had a goal, and Shawn Spearing and Sam Mayer each added an assist. Liam Sztuska was phenomenal in net, making 33 saves for his fourth win of the season.
The Petes travel to Oshawa on New Year’s Day for a matinee matchup with the rival Generals. Puck drop is scheduled for 2:00PM. You can catch the game on CHL TV and Freq 90.5.
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