On Saturday, May 13, the Peterborough Petes were in London for game two of their best of seven OHL Championship Series against the London Knights. The Petes were looking for a bounce back win after a shutout 3-0 loss in game one at Budweiser Gardens on Thursday night. The Maroon and White have been very efficient on the road all through the playoffs, winning at least one game on the road in all three of their previous series. The Petes have only lost two games in a row once this postseason, that being games four and five in the Eastern Conference Championship against the North Bay Battalion. London native Michael Simpson was back in net for the Petes coming off of a 29 save performance on Thursday night.
The Petes were ready to go from the drop of the puck. Right off the bat, Peterborough would press the Knights, hungry for their first goal of the series. Just under eight minutes into the game, Tucker Robertson would strike first for the Maroon and White. After Brennan Othmann forced a turnover at the blueline, Robertson picked up the puck and wired a shot past Zach Bowen, scoring Peterborough’s first OHL Championship series goal since 2006. Robertson’s sixth goal of the playoffs would be the difference in the first period as the Petes would take a 1-0 lead into the locker room on the road.
London would tie the game up early in the second period on a goal by Sam Dickinson, but that wouldn’t faze the Petes. Four minutes after the goal, Avery Hayes buried his ninth of the playoffs on the powerplay to give Peterborough their lead back.Just as fast as they got the lead back, they would lose it. Just a couple minutes later, on an innocent looking shot, Sean McGurn beat Michael Simpson to tie the game up once again. After the goal, the Petes would run into some penalty trouble, picking up nine minutes of penalties in under a minute of game time.The Knights would capitalize, scoring on the powerplay to take the 3-2 lead heading into the third.
The third period was absolutely wild from the start. In the period, London would outshoot the Petes 22-8, only for Peterborough to outscore London 3-0. It all started when Donovan McCoy fired a puck through Zach Bowen’s five-hole to tie the game at 3-3. Just two minutes later, Avery Hayes fed Tucker Robertson on a breakaway, who made no mistake to give the Petes the lead. Avery Hayes put the game away with another goal of his own in the last five minutes to make it 5-3. Michael Simpson was phenomenal all game, making 51 saves to secure the victory and tie the series 1-1 heading back to Peterborough.
Tucker Robertson led the way for the Petes with two goals and two assists. Avery Hayes scored twice and had an assist, while Brennan Othmann had two assists. Donovan McCoy scored and Gavin White picked up an assist. Michael Simpson stopped 51/54 for his 13th win of the playoffs.
The Petes are back at the PMC on Monday, May 15 for game three of their OHL Final best of seven series against the London Knights. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Tickets are currently sold out, but fans can contact the Grant Thornton Box Office at (705) 743-3561 for information on any last minute releases. Fans can catch the game on OHL Live, TSN, Freq 90.5, Oldies 96.7, and Classic Rock 107.9.
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