O Oh no OHL

Peter Ceresnak (OHL Images)

Not exactly a very good night for any of the New York Islander prospects in action on Thursday evening but one New York Ranger prospect escaped the press box and got to play. The OHL gets all the attention as that was where all the prospect action took place.

Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011 6th) was back in the Peterborough lineup after being a healthy scratch in their last game. Thursday night it was the Peterborough Petes hosting the Oshawa Generals as the Petes are trying to catch the Kingston Frontenacs for the 8th playoff spot in the OHL's Eastern Conference.

It was a strange game for the Petes as they spotted the Generals a 2-0 lead in the first period and then scored the game's next 5 goals over the 2nd and 3rd period to grab a 5-2 lead before earning a 6-3 win. Ceresnak got the primary assist on the 4th Pete's goal as his shot from the point was deflected in.

That goal wound up being the game winner for the Petes as they moved to within 2 points of Kingston for the 8th playoff spot but Kingston holds 2 games in hand on the Petes. For Ceresnak, his assist was his 8th on the season as he is now 1-8-9.

Mitchell Theoret (NYI 2011 7th) and his Barrie Colts were trying to find the winning formula as they hosted the Owen Sound Attack. The Colts fell out of first place in the OHL's Eastern Conference after losing to Belleville on Monday and they did not help their cause by dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to the Attack.

Theoret was scoreless as his Colts are winless in their last 3 games as the Colts pulled to within 2 points of Belleville but Belleville holds 2 games in hand.

Another team that is in a bit of a free fall are the Niagara IceDogs as Ryan Strome (NYI 2011 1st) and Jesse Graham (NYI 2012 6th) have watched their team drop in the standings over the last month. One of the teams chasing them is the Mississauga Steelheads who whipped the IceDogs 8-2 on Thursday evening.

The first period was innocent enough with Mississauga leading 1-0 after the period but once the 2nd period got underway the roof caved in on Niagara. Mississauga added 3 more goals before Niagara was able to score on a power play.

Leading 4-1 at the start of the 3rd period, Mississauga added another 4 goals before Niagara would score a 2nd goal but it did little to affect the outcome of the game. The win put Mississauga just 1 point behind Niagara for 6th place in the OHL's Eastern Conference while also having a game in hand.

Niagara has to be thankful that 2 of the teams behind them Mississauga and Kingston are struggling like they are but it is very possible with 10 games remaining that Niagara could drop out of a playoff spot. Ryan Strome had a secondary assist on Niagara's 1st goal but that was all he could do.

Jesse Graham had a nightmare of a game not only scoreless but a team worst -5 for the game.

But there day was not as bad as Adam Pelech's (NYI 2012 3rd) day was as the OHL suspended Pelech 5 games for a cross-checking major he earned on Monday. It was Pelech's 2nd suspension in under a month so sorry there is no sympathy for Pelech here.

And to make Pelech's day worse, his Erie Otters were officially eliminated from playoff contention after suffering a 8-5 loss to the Windsor Spitfires. The Spitfires only dressed 10 forwards and 5 defensemen and were still able to hammer a defeat on the Otters.

Pelech is a talented player but he let his team down with the 2 suspensions as he was the only real older player on the blueline. Hopefully he learns from this and if he returns to the Otters that he becomes a leader for a team that needs one.