(Photo by David Pickering/OHL Images)
Wow – he really can do it all.
Carter George capped another brilliant performance with a goal, scoring into an empty-net with 1:34 remaining in the third period as the Owen Sound Attack downed the Peterborough Petes 4-1 in Ontario Hockey League action Thursday evening at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
George sent the Attack bench into complete jubilation by getting in on the scoring action, and was immediately mobbed and piled on by his teammates as soon as his shot crossed the Petes’ goal line, right in the centre of the net.
It was the first time in Attack franchise history a goaltender has scored.
“I’m not going to lie it happened pretty quick. As he shot on net I knew it was a 5-on-4. I just wanted to get down the ice. I’m not going to lie I thought they had a power play so I was just trying to ice it. And then I looked up and saw they didn’t have a goalie in the net, so I thought, I’ll go for it,” George says. “But it was all just kind of instincts that took over. And it went in. It’s kind of all a big blur, it happened so quick.”
And as is tradition for goal scorers, George even led the team up the bench for the celebratory high-fives after the history-making moment. It was all visible, pure happiness and joy for the Attack group. Players, coaches, staff. Everyone.
George says it was his teammate Braedyn Rogers who insisted he skate down the bench after the big goal.
“He was just saying, ‘you’ve gotta go down the bench, go down the bench,’” George recalls. “And I went down and immediately thought, this is awesome I’ve never done this before. This is so awesome and so cool.”
A bunch of other cool stuff happened for the Attack as well. Pierce Mbuyi scored twice in his return to the lineup after the U17 World Challenge. Declan Waddick had an assist for his 100th career OHL point. David Bedkowski had his first point as a member of the Attack. And Ben Cormier scored.
Jonathan Melee had the lone goal for Peterborough (1-14-1-3), which still has yet to win a game on home ice this season.
The Attack led 1-0 after one. Antonio Tersigni took the puck out from the corner and backhanded a pass in front to Mbuyi, who was left wide open and quickly snapped a shot past the glove of Zach Bowen on the power play.
Mbuyi would score again on the power play 8:09 in the second period. This time with a big time shot from the top of the circle on the left side of the offensive zone. He managed to beat Bowen low. 2-0 Attack.
Peterborough then had a chance for a lengthy power play, as James Petrovski was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a cross-check on Braydon McCallum.
The Petes would get one back, as Melee one-timed a shot from the high slot just past the midway mark of the second to cut the Attack lead.
Cormier made it 3-1 for the Attack at 14:29 of the third. Waddick led a 2-on-1 rush up ice, and then from the right side he put a perfect pass onto the tape of Cormier’s stick. And No. 8 quickly shot the puck past Bowen and into the net, as the goaltender slid to his right.
That assist was Waddick’s 100th career point in the OHL.
Then it was the big goal we’ve talked about. The goaltender sealing things for the Attack with 1:34 remaining, scoring an empty-netter.
George made 36 saves in the win, while Bowen stopped 37 taking the loss. The Attack outshot the Petes 41-37 while going 2 for 3 on the power play; Peterborough finished 1 for 5.
The Attack (6-9-2-2) won for the third time in the past four games and leapfrogged idle Flint (7-11-0-1) for eighth in the OHL’s Western Conference.
Next up on Owen Sound’s three-game eastern trip is a stop in Kingston Friday night to face the Frontenacs (11-5-4). Game time is 7 p.m. You can hear all the action live on Kia of Owen Sound-Terry’s Trailer Service Bear Radio on 560 CFOS, beginning with the Lumberjack Log Structures pregame show at 6:30 p.m.