Peterborough Petes optimistic they can battle back from 3-1 series deficit

The Peterborough Petes are staring down elimination. Oshawa scored the go-ahead goal with under five minutes to go in Game 4 Thursday night, en route to a 5-2 victory.

So the Petes find themselves in a hole, down 3-1 in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

“It’s a new day tomorrow,” said forward Nick Robertson. “And we just have to bounce back on Saturday.”

After getting outscored 15-2 in games 1 and 2 in Oshawa, the Petes have played much better hockey at home.

The Petes edged the Gens 3-2 in Game 3 and put forward a strong performance in Game 4 and deserved to win, but one bad turnover late in the game made all the difference.

Still, Peterborough has shown it can play and beat Oshawa.

Petes head coach Rob Wilson said his team’s compete level and battle has been outstanding. And a big reason for the team’s success has been the fans showing up to pack the Peterborough Memorial Centre.

“The fans the last two games have been unbelievable,” Wilson said. “Every time we make a hit, the roofs coming off the building. We’ve been feeding off of that.”

But now the series shifts back to Oshawa. The Petes will have to play in front of the Generals’ fans and win if they want to continue on in the postseason.

“We don’t have to worry about winning two, we have to win one, and it’s got to be the next one,” Wilson said.

The Petes have had trouble in Oshawa all season long and have won only once. That was back on October 12.

But the players are confident in themselves and in each other. They believe they can pull off an upset.

“Going to Oshawa we can tie the series,” Robertson said. “It’s only 3-1, it ain’t over till it’s over.”

Game 5 is set for Saturday night in Oshawa. Should the Petes win and force a Game 6, it will go Sunday back in Peterborough.