The night started well for the visitors and the Spirit rung off three goals in the first half of the period. Things started to look bleaker as Peterborough was shorthanded late in the period. However, the Petes forced a turnover in the offensive zone as Brennan Faulkner intercepted a pass, fed Aiden Young the puck and deked Saginaw goaltender Kaleb Papineau for the Petes’s first goal.
In the final minute of the frame, Petes captain Johnathan Melee got the puck from the faceoff in the offensive zone. He threw the puck at the net and hit top shelf to cut the deficit to one goal after the first.
The Petes were able to tie the game up with the man advantage in the second period. Taylor won the footrace to the puck, centred a pass to the slot and Braydon McCallum tipped it home for a 3-3 game.
Saginaw regained the lead six minutes later thanks to Hayden Barch but Peterborough kept battling. Less than two minutes from that goal, Martin Matejicek took the puck coast-to-coast and beat Papineau five-hole to tie the game again. The Petes were not finished that period as Genc Ula wanted his turn from going end-to-end as he got the puck in his own zone, got into the opposing end and wristed it in from the point for the Petes first lead, 5-4.
Peterborough continued their offensive prowess to open the third as Brennan Faulkner found the scoresheet. Rio Kaiser won the puck battle after a dump and chase. He fed it to Faulkner, who made a wraparound bid and scored for a 6-4 lead. That was Kaiser’s first OHL point with the assist.
The Petes kept their foot on the gas pedal as they were on the powerplay. They won a board battle in the offensive zone corner as Young soccered the puck to his stick, passed it to the slot for an approaching Matejicek who one-timed it for a 7-4 Petes lead. With the Spirit having their backs to the wall, they fought back to make it close. Jacob Cloutier got a power play goal and Dimian Zhilkin followed up 36 seconds later to make it a 7-6 game.
With life still in Saginaw, they pulled their goalie for an extra attacker with just under three minutes in regulation to try and tie the game. Peterborough nailed the insurance marker after winning another board battle from behind their own net. McCallum ended up with the puck and sent it nearly 200 feet for the empty-net goal and an 8-6 win.
The Petes hit the road across Highway 115 and onto the 401 to take on their rival Oshawa Generals at the Tribute Communities Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
