by Roger Lajoie

The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors continue to stay right in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. 

Jamie Wise scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal early in the third period as the Majors edged the Peterborough

Petes 3-2 in Ontario Hockey League play Friday night at the Hershey Centre on Family Literacy Day.

Brandon Maxwell made 30 saves and Brett Foy added a goal and an assist for the Majors, who moved into a sixth place tie in

the Eastern Conference standings with the Petes with a 22-19-1-5 record.
   
Mika Partanen scored the other Majors goal while Dyan Fritze and Lino Martschini scored the goals for Peterborough, who was

alone in sixth before Friday night’s play in the OHL.
   
Fitze opened the scoring for the visitors just 2:23 into the opening period, giving the Petes a 1-0 with what turned out to

be the only goal of the first period. Peterborough carried the play for a good part of the opening 20 minutes, out-shooting

the Majors 12-10.
   
Mississauga came out charging in the second period, however, as Foy evened the score at 4:33 of the middle period as the

Majors had seven shots at Petes goalie Matthew D'Agostini in the opening five minutes of the second frame. Just 2:01 later

Partanen gave the Majors the lead on assists from Foy and Syrette to make it 2-1 Mississauga. That was it for the second

period scoring as the Majors out-shot the Petes 15-11 in the second period and carried their one-goal lead into the second

intermission.

The Majors took a two-goal lead with their third straight goal early in the third period, as Wise notched his 17th goal of

the season on passes from Alex Cord and Kristoff Kontos to make it 3-1.

Peterborough answered right back when Martschini scored at 7:20, making it 3-2, but that’s as close as the Petes could get as

the Majors picked up a crucial two points in the standings.

Mississauga out-shot the Petes 36-32. Both teams failed to score in three power play opportunities on the night. Majors are back at

home Sunday at 2 p.m. when they face the Sudbury Wolves at 2 p.m. at the Hershey Centre.

Tickets for all Majors home games are available at www.ticketmaster.ca or at the Hershey Centre box office during regular

business hours.