Timleck sidelined by upper body injury from Game 1
Petes Pieces
Adam Timleck missed Game 2 of the OHL Eastern Conference final with an undisclosed upper body injury.
Petes’ coach Jody Hull said Timleck is day-to-day after being injured in game one of the series on Thursday. Pavel Gogolev slid into Timleck’s spot on the wing beside Chris Paquette and Logan DeNoble before later dropping to the fourth line with Zach Gallant taking his spot on the wing. It was Gogolev’s first game of the playoffs.
Matt Timms, who has been day-to-day for three weeks, also remains sidelined from a shoulder injury. The Petes aren’t saying a lot about his timeline. He is skating on his own but not yet taking shots.
Goalie showdown
Dylan Wells got the best of his old goaltending partner Matt Mancina in three regular season meetings but Mancina is up 2-0 in the playoffs, although Wells made 25 more saves then Mancina in Game 2.
Mancina insisted there is no extra emotion for him facing his old team.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s like any other game,” Mancina said. “We’re playing for a trophy here and we want to win. It’s just like playing any other team.
Petes’ coach Jody Hull said it’s interesting to see he two goalies facing off but he says the Petes are comfortable with their decision to trade Mancina to give Wells the opportunity to be their starter. Mancina had also expressed an interest in being traded realizing both were capable of being starters.
“Dylan Wells has been our backbone all season and no different here in the playoffs,” said Hull. “It’s funny the opposing goalie is the one who was one-two here last year in Peterborough. Dylan wanted to be a No. 1 guy and we had to move Matt but Dylan has lived up to that bill.”
Steelheads’ coach James Richmond said he’s never thought of the series in terms of a goalie showdown.
“As a coach I’ve never looked at it as a goalie against a goalie,” Richmond said. “It’s our shooters against Wellsy and it’s their shooters against Matty... Matty came in here having won four in a row against Oshawa and we were pretty confident in Matty coming in,”
Watson has history with Petes
When the Petes played Kingston in round two there were no Frontenacs on the team who had played in their 2014 series when Peterborough rallied from a 3-0 deficit to upset Kingston. There is one player on Mississauga who was a part of that. Spencer Watson, who has 13 goals in 13 playoff games including three in two games against the Petes, was a member of that Frontenacs team.
No repeat for former Petes’ coach
Former Petes’ coach Mike Pelino’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk, where he is an assistant coach, fell short in their bid to repeat as Gagarin Cup champions.
Metallurg fell in five games to SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL final. It’s the third trip to the final in four years for Pelino in Russia. They won the title in 2014 and 2016. Pelino calls Millbrook home during the off-season.