A late goal for the Peterborough Petes proved to be the difference as the North Bay Battalion fell 3-2 Tuesday evening.
The best of seven Eastern Conference Finals is now led by Peterborough 2-1.
“It happened pretty quickly there in the third, the change of events,” said head coach Ryan Oulahen.
"I thought Peterborough, give them a lot of credit, they played a really good hockey game. You’re witnessing two elite teams going at it.
“Space, especially at this rink is at a premium, holy cow. Quick turnaround tomorrow, which I think is good. Oftentimes as athletes, you want to get right back at it and redeem yourself. Situations we have been in before and we just have to find a way to bounce back tomorrow.”
Brendan Othmann slipped a shot between the legs of DiVincentiis on the power play which made it 1-0 Petes late in the opening frame.
Battalion had a glorious chance to even things as late in the first Chase Stillman was ejected for a slew foot on Anthony Romani which gave the Troops a five minute power play to open the period.
They couldn't cash in on the opportune but the Battalion got the equalizer when Dom DiVincentiis punched out a blocker save that led Kyle McDonald for a rush down the right wing. His blast was stopped by Michael Simpson but Pasquale Zito slipped the rebound home to even things at 1-1.
The Troops got their first lead of the game on a beautiful give and go between Kyle Jackson and Matvey Petrov, as Petrov finished off the highlight reel passing play that was reviewed but deemed a good goal.
In the third, Avery Hayes (7) one timed the puck past DiVincentiis to tie the game up just under seven minutes in before Samuel Mayer (1) beat a screened DiVincentiis with just over two minutes left in the period to give the win to Peterborough.
“You have to find a way to earn your breaks and have them go your way, and score one more than them,” explained Oulahen. “It’s Game 3 going into Game 4, you know exactly the blueprint, what they’re trying to do, what we’re trying to do, it’s all about execution and finding that extra one.”
Game 4 goes from Peterborough Wednesday night. You can catch all the action live on the Frontline Gameday Broadcast starting at 6:50 p.m.
