Otters edge Petes in underdog story
Goaltender Ethan Fraser gets called up from the Lindsay Muskies to earn his first OHL victory
As a lifelong hockey man, Rob Wilson loves an underdog story when an unheralded player rises to the occasion, but he wishes it hadn’t happened against his team on Thursday night.
Ethan Fraser, called up from the Lindsay Muskies to play for the goalie-depleted Erie Otters, made 39 saves to earn first star honours and his first Ontario Hockey League win at the age of 21 in a 4-2 victory over the Peterborough Petes before 3,715 Memorial Centre patrons.
A former U18 draft pick, Fraser, a Belleville native, was appearing in his third OHL game, all this season, as one of eight goalies the Otters have employed due to injuries and illness.
He made a number of significant stops at key times, coming quickly across his crease to rob Caden Taylor of an almost sure goal in the second period.
He reached back to rob Braydon McCallum with a glove save in the third with the Petes pressing on a power play.
“He’s probably worked his rearend off for all these years and gets an opportunity like that close to home,” said Wilson, the Petes head coach. “It’s a nice story for him, but unfortunately it happens to be against us.”
Despite a valiant effort, the Petes (17-33-6-1) couldn’t halt their clubrecord 11 game losing streak at home. Their dim playoff hopes are also vanishing as they sit 10 points behind the Barrie Colts for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with 11 games left.
Peterborough is off until Sunday when the team visits the Owen Sound Attack at 6 p.m. The Petes will play three home games next week: Barrie on Tuesday, the Ottawa 67’s on Thursday and Niagara IceDogs on Saturday, all 7:05 p.m. starts.
Wilson thought his team deserved a better fate.
“I couldn’t fault us. Our work rate around the net, our puck hunting. Our forecheck was very aggressive … which was good, but we were maybe too aggressive on our next layer and gave up a couple of opportunities we shouldn’t have. Again, it’s all learning, but they can’t work harder than that,” the Peterborough coach said.
Taylor was one of two Petes to beat Fraser.
He scored his eighth goal since joining Peterborough on a five-onthree power play to open the scoring 9:59 into the game. The Petes moved the puck around until Taylor moved in off the point and snapped a shot over Fraser’s glove.
Still, he was left thinking about a couple that got away. Fraser also stoned Taylor on a point-blank shot with a pad save later in the second period.
“We could have had a lot on that guy,” said Taylor. “He played unreal. Erie has had some trouble with goalies I’ve heard, but he’s a pretty good goalie. He definitely stoned me a few times.”
Erie replied with two goals in the next 2:34 to grab a 2-1 lead. Brett Bressette picked off an errant Petes clearing attempt and slid a backhand pass to Martin Misiak who put a shot between goalie Zach Bowen’s legs at 11:35.
Bowen reacted quickly to recover after being knocked over by his own player to make a brilliant save off of Bruce McDonald, but Wesley Royston was waiting at the side of the net to cash in the rebound at 12:33.
Ex-Pete Sam Alfano gave Erie (2627-4-1) a two-goal lead 5:29 into the second frame, finishing off a nifty set up by Bressette who split a pair of Petes to slide a pass to Alfano. Alfano has 19 goals and 44 points for Erie this season.
Bowen, who turned aside 35 shots, robbed Kaleb Smith with a glove save on a breakaway with 90 seconds left in the second to keep the Petes within striking distance.
Erie went up 4-1 on Carey Terrance’s 29th goal of the season as he converted Malcolm Spence’s pass to finish off a rush that started deep in Erie’s end 4:27 into the third.
The Petes bounced back 1:19 later when Ryder McIntyre grabbed Tommy Purdeller’s rebound and tucked it by Fraser in tight.
Erie had a goal disallowed by an offside call after video review to keep it 4-2.
Notes Petes alumnus Chase Stillman scored his first pro hat trick on Sunday in the Utica Comets’ 5-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch. The New Jersey Devils prospect has 10 goals and seven assists in 41 games in his rookie pro season ... Petes alumnus Michael Simpson was the OHL Goalie of the Week for a second time this season after posting a 2-0 record with a 1.00 GAA, .956 save percentage and one shutout for London last week ... Petes captain Jonathan Melee was a late scratch due to illness. Grayden Strohack missed his third game with an upper-body injury and Dylan Woulds remained out with a lower-body injury, leaving the Petes with five defencemen. They were reduced to four when William Haley and Erie’s Wesley Royston were ejected after a spirited fight in the second period. The fight started straight off a faceoff, earning them game misconducts for a staged fight, which could open them up to further discipline from the OHL.