The Peterborough Petes take the series lead 2-0 in round one OHL playoff action after a 2-1 win over the Sudbury Wolves.
The March 31 road game at the Peterborough Memorial Centre saw an early goal by Sudbury, but it was their last goal of the game.
Kevyn Brassard was between the pipes for Sudbury, and Michael Simpson would get his second straight start for the Petes, after stopping 26 of 28 shots for his first career playoff win in game one.
At about halfway through the first period, Sudbury’s Evan Konyen tapped in the leading goal with help from Quentin Musty and David Goyette. The rest of the period was heavy with penalties as the Wolves’ Djibril Toure was called for holding, the Petes’ Chase Stillman for hooking, a knock to Sudbury’s Matthew Mania for roughing and the same call for Peterbourough’s Connor Lockhart.
An interference call early in the second would go to Peterborough's J.R. Avon, followed by back-to-back penalty calls to Sudbury’s Kocha Delic(holding) and McCallum (tripping) the Petes found themselves on a two man advantage six minutes into the period. The Petes Tucker Robertson picked up a Brennan Othmann rebound on the powerplay and tied the game up at 1-1. Both goalies would shut the door after the goal, leading to a 1-1 game heading into the third.
Then just 14 seconds into the third, Othmann would leap on a loose puck and bat it past Sudbury netminder Brassard to give the Petes the lead. The Wolves threw everything they had at the Petes, hoping for the tying goal but Simpson proved to be unbeatable, making save after save to keep the Wolves off of the board. After a tense final two minutes, the horn sounded and the Petes would take a 2-0 series lead with a 2-1 win.
Though shots on goal for Sudbury totalled 41, (15-15-11) they were no match for the Petes 53 (17-19-17).
The Sudbury Wolves will have their next shot at the series on home ice, Tuesday, April 4, when they take on the Wolves in Sudbury for game three. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
