Odd-man rushes a point to improve on for the Petes
After overtime loss to Generals, Petes regroup as Battalion come in looking to narrow gap
The Peterborough Petes need to clean up the odd-man rushes against them which cost them an overtime loss Thursday night, head coach Rob Wilson says.
Allan McShane’s second goal and fourth point of the night helped the Oshawa Generals hand the Petes their first overtime loss of the season 6-5 at the Memorial Centre.
The Petes occupy fifth place in the OHL’s Eastern Conference but are just four points behind third place Oshawa. The North Bay Battalion, who visit the Petes at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, are three points back of Peterborough. The Petes hold one game in hand on both teams.
Oshawa scored four of their six goals on odd-man rushes.
“I’m frustrated about the number of outnumbered rushes,” Wilson said.
“We gave up four goals on outnumbered rushes. We talked about it at the end of the first. We talked about it at the end of the second. We talked about it at the end of the third. That’s what hurts.”
Yet, he liked the play of his defence and other elements of the game.
“I loved our battle tonight. Our penalty kill guys were exceptional. Our power play was buzzing. We worked really hard and that’s why frustration sets in.”
Max Grondin, who scored one of the Petes goals, said it was tough to see a point slip away. The Petes rallied from a 5-3 deficit with two late goals to force overtime.
“It’s a tough loss,” Grondin said. “We worked hard and they have a really good team. We let them get some odd-man rushes on us, some two-on-ones which was tough, but we kept working hard until the end. Timmer got a big goal for us at the end to tie it up.”
The game marked the debut of newest Pete Michael Little obtained earlier in the day from the Mississauga Steelheads. He was thrown right into the Petes-Generals rivalry and delivered some big hits in the third period of a roller-coaster games that featured lead changes and plenty of goals.
“It was a big two points in a conference game and we came up one short but we battled back and I thought we had a really good game,” Little said.
“It was a really tough game that got physical at the end which is what I like. It’s part of my game. It’s tough we came up short but next time I think we’ll have them, for sure.”