Petes squash the 67’s
Move into tie for first after Lorentz breaks tie, Smith puts in a solid performance in net
OTTAWA – The Peterborough Petes found a way to win when they weren’t at their best Wednesday night.
Steve Lorentz snapped a 1-1 deadlock with 3:46 left and assisted on Josh Coyle’s empty-net goal as the Petes beat the Ottawa 67’s 3-1 at TD Place.
It gave the Petes points in seven of eight games and moved them back into a tie with the Oshawa Generals atop the OHL’s Eastern Conference. The Generals hold one game in hand. The 67’s are a dreadful 8-14-1 at home while the Petes improved to 13-10-2 on the road.
The Petes didn’t have a power play until they got two late in the game and capitalized on the second to take the lead. They moved the puck around the perimeter until Nikita Korostelev found Lorentz in the slot where he snapped a shot through a screen past goalie Olivier Lafreniere. The Petes survived some shaky moments in the final 90 seconds, with Lafreniere pulled for an extra attacker, until Lorentz cleared the puck to Coyle who found the empty cage.
Scott Smith earned first star honours with his 26-save performance.
“We really benefitted from some great goaltending,” said Petes assistant coach Jake Grimes. “I can’t believe how well he plays. How well he tracks the puck and makes big scoring chances look not so good.”
Grimes wanted to give Ottawa credit for a strong game while feeling his team didn’t play to its capabilities.
“It was a very spirited effort on the part of Ottawa,” Grimes said. “I thought they carried the play for most of the game starting right off the hop. We were able to do some things in the third to help turn the tables.”
It’s possible, Grimes said, players are a bit fatigued.
“It was a lethargic effort,” he said. “We’re not sure if that’s a build up of the recent scheduling which has been harsh or what it is. I’m sure we’ll sit down as a group and get to work on it. We have to turn things around quickly because we have a speedy, aggressive team in Sudbury coming to our barn (Thursday).”
Despite being outplayed through the game’s early minutes the Petes got on the board first thanks to Ottawa area boy Cole Fraser. He cruised in over the 67’s blue-line and fired a long wrist shot through the legs of a defender and over Lafreniere’s pad at 14:37.
The Petes were 19 seconds away from taking a lead into the first intermission when Ottawa tied it. The 67’s forced a neutral zone turnover and Jared Steege spun to fire the puck past Smith on an oddman rush.
Steege was the best skater in a scoreless second period but Smith was better. He made a big pad save off Steege on a power play and stopped him on a quality chance late in the period. The Petes managed just four shots.
“Everyone including myself probably could have been a little bit better,” Smith said. “We came together as a team in the third and got the win so that’s all that matters. It definitely was not our best effort. There is always room to improve.”
When asked Why he thought he could have been better after earning first-star honours, Smith replied: “I’m always trying to get better and improve my game. There were little things I felt I probably could have done.”
NOTES: The Petes lost Zach Gallant in the second period after he was cut by an errant high stick. No update on his status was available .... Nick Isaacson and Declan
Chisholm were scratched.