The logo of the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League
The struggles continued for the Owen Sound Attack; this time at the hands of the rebuilding Peterborough Petes.
Kincardine native Quinton Pagé scored twice as the Petes downed the Attack 4-1 in Ontario Hockey League action Sunday evening at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre.
Peterborough (18-33-6-1) ended a four-game slide and picked up its first regulation win of 2024.
The Attack (26-26-5-3) lost their third straight and ninth in the past 11 games.
Caden Taylor and Tommy Purdeller also scored for the Petes. Colby Barlow had the lone goal for Owen Sound.
The Attack led 1-0 after the opening 20 on Barlow’s power play marker, a one-time blast from his familiar post on the right-side of the offensive zone.
But the Petes flipped the script in the second period with three goals, two of them off the stick of Pagé which sent some loud cheers from sections in the Bayshore from the friends and family on hand to cheer the Kincardine product and Grey Bruce Highlanders alumni.
Liam Sztuska was stellar in net for the Petes, making 45 saves in the win. Carter George stopped 22 taking the loss.
The Attack outshot the Petes 46-26 while going 1 for 5 on the power play; Peterborough finished 1 for 3.
Wednesday, Owen Sound hosts the Kitchener Rangers (38-20-2).
THE PLAYOFF PICTURE
Owen Sound fell to sixth in the OHL’s Western Conference with Sunday’s loss. The Erie Otters (28-27-4-1) moved one point up on Owen Sound with their third straight win, underlining the importance of back-to-back games in Erie the Attack have on tap March 9-10.
And Owen Sound could be in seventh by the time they arrive in Erie. The Guelph Storm (27-25-5-1) are currently tied with the Attack, and hold two games in hand. The Storm play games on Wednesday and Friday. The Flint Firebirds (26-29-3-1) are lurking four points back of the Attack as well, with a game in hand. In short, fifth-place in the Western Conference is still firmly in play for the Attack. But if they can’t turn things around, a fall as far as eighth could play out over the final three weeks of the OHL regular season.
30-WIN STREAK IN DOUBT?
The Attack have eight games to go in the regular season and need to win half of them if their going to win at least 30 regular season games for a 13th consecutive season. The last time an Attack team failed to reach the 30-win mark was the 2009-10 season. The schedule over the final eight games for the Attack includes two against each of Kitchener, Erie and Guelph, and matchups with the Soo Greyhounds (39-16-3-1) and Sudbury Wolves (34-19-3-3). Regression from last season is all but locked-in: the Attack would have to run the table to reach 34 wins, the same total they finished the 2022-23 campaign with. Don’t bet on that to happen.