Gens pull even with rival Petes

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

Playing a home-and-home series against Eastern Conference-leading Oshawa 67’s, the Generals managed to scrape together three of six possible points this weekend.

As playoffs approach, the Generals are looking to push past the rival Peterborough Petes, who have a game in hand.

Taking on the 67’s on Sunday at home, Oshawa was looking for a win to move up in the standings.

While Ottawa scored the lone goal of the first period, the Gens quickly tied the game in the second when Brett Harrison tapped in a rebound to score on the power play.

However, Ottawa would add one more in the second, and then another early on in the final frame, forcing Oshawa to fight back from two goals behind as the clock wound down.

Midway through the period, Lleyton Moore would tip in a pass from Allan McShane mere feet away from goaltender Cedrick Andree to bring the Gens within one.

Once again, Moore would find himself fighting for the puck in front of the net, eventually scoring his second of the game, tying it up and forcing overtime.

But the Gens wouldn’t be able to fully capitalize on the comeback, earning only a single point and tying Peterborough in the standings.

While the Gens weren’t able to take home the victory, they did outshoot their opponents 35-33, while going two-for-six on the power play. Moore (two goals, one assist) and Nico Gross (two assists) were awarded the first and second stars respectively.

In earlier action, the Gens were taking on the 67’s in the first of the back-to-back series, where they again found themselves down two goals early, and unable to find the back of the net until the third period.

It was Brett Neumann who took charge in the third, rifling a shot past Andree to bring Oshawa to within one.

However, the Gens would pull goalie Jordan Kooy for the extra attacker as the period wound down, and Ottawa would find the empty net twice to make the final score 4-1.

While no Gens were awarded stars of the game, they did outshoot Ottawa 38-34 and went one-for-four on the power play.

The Gens also took on the Petes in Peterborough last week, winning 4-3 despite being outshot 40-31.

While going one-for-two on the power play, the Kooy took home the second star of the game after stopping 37 of 40 shots.

With only eight games remaining on the regular season schedule, the Gens will hit the road for four games to take on the Guelph Storm, the London Knights, the 67’s and the Petes before returning home on Sunday, March 15 to take on the Niagara IceDogs at 6:05 p.m.