Eleven-straight goals helped power the Peterborough Timbermen past the Whitby Steelhawks 18-10 on Saturday afternoon in ALL action at Children’s Arena. It was a bounce back game for the Timbermen who lost out on first place last week after dropping 16-10 decision to the St. Catharines Shockwave.
The Steelhawks, who sit in last place with an 0-6 record, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. The Timbermen looked discombobulated in the first five minutes but settled down when Fred Hartley got them on the board at 5:41.
“We saw their record and almost though we were just going to blow by them but then we sat back after they got four goals right away and said no, this is our game. We knew we screwed up last game and we weren’t going to screw up again,” said defenseman Colton Armstrong, who had a hat trick in the game.
Buoyed by the memory of last week’s game, the Timbermen pushed the pace and replied to Cree Blakely’s goal at 6:32 with a three-goal run to tie the game at four. Whitby goaltender Lukas Coote had to work hard after that to stop the Timbermen who were eagerly scooping up loose balls for second and third chances. Whitby retook the lead in the last minute of the quarter 5-4.
“The first four minutes they got two power play goals right away so they got up pretty quick but we stayed with our routine,” said winning goaltender Nick Damude. “We’re a good team and we knew we could beat them, just keep to our systems and keep going and we came out with the win.”
With Brett Perras and Ethan Woods unavailable, Damude played the full game. He picked up momentum as the game went on, even shutting out the Steelhawks in the third quarter. Jackson Hainer was called up to back-up.
“It felt good playing a full 60 minutes,” Damude said. “Got the legs used to a lot more time. Lot more shots.”
The Steelhawks went up 7-4 in the second but the Timbermen roared back with five-straight goals to lead 9-7 at the half. Aaron Woods scored a power play goal just as the shot clock sounded before Armstrong scored in transition. Mark Vradenburg then scored back-to-back to tie the game and give Peterborough the lead, first cutting to the net to convert Ty Thompson’s pass, then finishing off a transition play from Damude and Armstrong by leaping over the crease. Cameron Simpson picked up a rebound with 3.2 seconds left.
The third was all Peterborough as they piled on six goals, chasing Coote in favour of Bailey Brown. The highlight of the period was defenseman Joe Wasson’s goal in which he grabbed a loose ball, spun around and rifled a sharp angle shot into Whitby’s net. Kaleb Bingley grappled with Cody McMahon late in the period but neither could get a great hold on the other and both ended up on their feet. McMahon was slapped with a fighting major while Bingley got off with a roughing minor.
Each team scored three times in the final quarter. Armstrong, who spent most of the game scooping up loose balls and running down the floor, completed his hat trick with a third transition goal, this one shorthanded.
“Opportunity just came to me,” he said. “Fast breaks like that with younger guys with fast feet is growing the game. Whitby’s really fast that way too so I wanted to beat them. I wanted the opportunity to get up in the zone, move it off or get a goal.”
The Timbermen are next in action Saturday, February 9that 7 p.m. to face the Oshawa Outlaws back at Children’s Arena.
Notes: Head coach Joe Sullivan and assistant coach Derrick Crough were unavailable Saturday, so assistant coach Ray Dance took over head coaching duties while former Timberman player Justin Kulla assisted. Dance and Kulla also coach together with the Jr. A Lakers.
Scoring for the Timbermen:
Mark Vradenburg (4-1)
Fred Hartley (3-2)
Colton Armstrong (3-1)
Cameron Simpson (3-0)
Aaron Woods (2-3)
Tim Bergin (1-7)
Parker Sands (1-0)
Joe Wasson (1-0)
Ty Thompson (0-6)
Kroy Arnold (0-2)
Clay Arnold (0-1)
Steve Bourden (0-1)
Greg Reilly (0-1)
Zack Thompson (0-1)
Nick Damude (0-1)
