It was another huge comeback win for the Peterborough Timbermen (8-4) this past Saturday, as they rallied from an 8-4 halftime deficit to beat the Toronto Monarchs 14-10 at Children’s Arena in Oshawa.
The win means the Timbermen will finish in second place heading into the playoffs. Two games remain in the regular season but they cannot be caught by any teams below them in the standings.
“We really played well as a unit,” defenseman Doug Utting said. “We got some great goaltending and guys were laying their body on the line, doing whatever it took to make sure the ball stayed out of our net.”
Though the Timbermen led 3-1 early on goals from Fred Hartley, Mark Vradenburg and Blake Kenny, the Monarchs roared back to take a 4-3 lead by the end of the quarter. Playing desperately, the Monarchs rattled off four more in a row to lead 8-3. Ty Thompson got one back for Peterborough late to cut the deficit in half.
Dalton Hill fought former Timberman Riley Morgan in the second.
Last week against the Monarchs, the Timbermen only trailed by one goal at the half before coming back with 11 goals in the second half for an 18-12 win. This week, the hill was much steeper.
“We’ve been having morning shoot arounds so guys are getting focused and dialed in early, but it just hasn’t translated on the floor in recent games,” said Utting. “I still don’t think we’ve put together a full 60 minutes, so that will be something we’ll be looking to do as playoffs approach.”
The Timbermen got some momentum back early in the third, with Hartley and Thompson both scoring in the first 1:19. Tyler Ferreira responded for Toronto with his hat trick goal, but from there on out it was all Peterborough as they scored five in a row to lead 11-9.
Hartley added two more, Thompson completed a hat trick, and Kenny and Vradenburg added their second goals of the game.
Defenseman Brett Coons said that the second half turnarounds are more about making adjustments than finding a second wind. Those adjustments make it easier for the Timbermen’s goaltenders to have strong second halves. Ethan Woods limited the Monarchs to one goal in the third and one in the fourth.
“Woodsy stood on his head. Toronto has a very talented offensive unit and he was making all the stops we needed him to,” Coons praised.
In the fourth, Thompson scored his fourth of the game and Blake Kenny added a pair to bring his total to four as well. The Timbermen killed off a major penalty in the last five minutes to prevent the Monarchs from staging their own comeback.
“It seems like we’re making a habit of getting strong second half starts and it’s great to see that the boys are battling through the adversity that we have faced, as that will be important for us with playoffs around the corner,” Utting said.
Next weekend the Timbermen play the Oshawa Outlaws at 7 p.m. at Children’s Arena before finishing their regular season off with a game against the Six Nations Snipers on March 30th.
Scoring for the Timbermen:
Blake Kenny (4-5)
Ty Thompson (4-3)
Fred Hartley (4-1)
Mark Vradenburg (2-3)
Joe Wasson (0-6)
Tim Bergin (0-6)
Lyman Beatty (0-1)
Zack Thompson (0-1)
Doug Utting (0-1)
