Majors Double up on Petes; Clinch First Overall

Published on March 10, 2011 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


Peterborough, ON - The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors were in Peterborough tonight to kick off their second last weekend of the season. With a win, the Majors would clinch the Hamilton Spectator Trophy for the best record in the OHL. They would have to do it without Captain Casey Cizikas, who is out with a wrist injury, and without Michael D Orazio, who is serving a suspension. Despite being shorthanded, the Majors beat the Petes 6-3, to clinch the club's first Hamilton Spectator Trophy.

The Majors opened the scoring tonight. Through the first five minutes of the game, the double blue put all kinds of pressure on the Petes and it paid off. At 5:21, Corey Bureau fired a high wrist shot that beat Bryce O'Hagen to make it 1-0 Majors. Brett Flemming and Derek Schoenmakers had the assists on Bureau's sixth goal of the season. The Petes would respond just two minutes later. Joey West put a shot in the back of the net over the shoulder of Majors goaltender Mickael Audette, who was making his first start since February 10. The goal was West's 11th of the season and tied the game. Austin Watson and Justin Larson had the assists. Neither team would find the back of the net again and the first period ended in a 1-1 tie. Shots on goal were 19-12 in favour of the Majors.

The second period did not start well for Mississauga. After two Majors players collided in front of the Mississauga bench, the Petes found themselves with a great chance in the Mississauga zone. Geoff Bezruchko got the puck alone in front of Audette and scored to make it 2-1 Petes. Lino Martschini and Watson had the assists at 2:06. The Majors responded just over two minutes later on the powerplay, while Clark Seymour was serving a high sticking penalty. Justin Shugg circled the net and put the puck on net where Chris DeSousa banged it home to tie the game. Flemming had the second assist on the goal that was scored at 4:13. It was Maxim Kitsyn's turn next as he scored his ninth goal of the season at 9:58 to give the Majors the lead. Kitsyn batted a rebound out of mid air and into the net to give the Majors the lead. Jordan Mayer and Mika Partanen had the assists. The Majors added an insurance goal, with their second powerplay goal of the period at 12:21. Devante Smith-Pelly displayed a great individual effort as he powered his way around the Petes defense and beat O'Hagen for his 32nd of the year, to make it 4-2 Majors. Shugg and DeSousa had the assists. The Majors outshot the Petes 14-8 in the second period, and went to the locker room with a 4-2 lead.

The Majors took to the ice for the third period just 20 minutes away from clinching first overall, but Mississauga was not comfortable to just sit on a two goal lead. Justin Shugg made it 5-2 Majors at 5:36. Shugg broke into the Peterborough zone and started a passing play with DeSousa and Smith-Pelly. Smith-Pelly ended the play with a pass across the crease to Shugg who tapped it in for the goal. It appeared as though the Majors were content to play defensive hockey the rest of the way but the Petes would not go down without a fight. At 15:02, Petes Captain Jack Walchessen got the puck in between the Majors defenseman and beat Mickael Audette to cut the lead to 5-3. Slater Koekkoek had the assist. Peterborough pulled their goalie with two minutes left in the game in an attempt to tie it up but Shugg scored an empty net goal at 19:20 to seal the 6-3 victory for the Majors. Shots on goal in the third period were 13-11 in favour of the Majors.

Mickael Audette got the start in net for the Majors and stopped 28 shots for the victory. Bryce O Hagen made 41 saves in the loss for Peterborough. The games three stars were Smith-Pelly (3rd), DeSousa (2nd) and Shugg (1st).

With the Hamilton Spectator Trophy in their back pocket, the Majors will now travel up Kennedy Road to face the Brampton Battalion tomorrow night for their final visit to the Powerade Centre this season. The team then heads to Ottawa to face the 67's on Sunday before facing the Niagara IceDogs at the Gatorade Garden City Complex next Thursday in their final road game of the season. The Majors return to the Hershey Centre on Friday, March 18 to face Brampton at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available at the Hershey Centre box office.

MasterCard Memorial Cup ticket packages are on sale now for as little as $495.00. Packages are available by visiting ticketmaster.ca or by calling 905-502-7788 x. 1 for more information.

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