Forward Lucas Lessio was a force to be reckoned with on Thursday night as the Generals beat the Petes, 5-2 to open the 2012-13 OHL season

PHOTO CREDIT - Mike Davies, Peterborough Examiner

Whitby - September 21, 2012 - Will the real Lucas Lessio please stand up? Lucas Lessio was a man on a mission on Thursday night as he led the Oshawa Generals to a 5-2 victory over their East Division rivals, the Peterborough Petes to ruin the Petes’ home opener. Lessio delivered a solid all around game, both offensively and defensively, registering three points (as did Oshawa Generals’ captain, Boone Jenner and overage defenseman, Matt Petgrave) and also blocked three point shots in the contest. Lessio at times last season and most recently during training camp this season, has disappeared at times when his team has needed him most, both offensively and defensively.

Lessio fired on all cylinders throughout tonight’s game and appears to be playing with more confidence in his first contest of the 2012-13 OHL season. He scored a pretty powerplay goal at 11:07 of the first period on a lovely end-to-end effort as he cut the Peterborough defence and slid the puck behind Petes’ starting netminder, Andrew D’Agostini. Lessio scored another goal in the second period as made his own space, got down low and fought off the Petes’ defenseman, leaving no chance for D’Agostini.

Jenner was strong at both ends of the rink as well for the Oshawa Generals. His play was particularly strong in the second period. Jenner potted two goals in the middle frame. Generals’ German sophomore, Sebastian Uvira tallied the other goal for Oshawa. Scoring for Peterborough was Francis Menard and Stephen Pierog in the third period, but Peterborough could not mount any further comeback on this evening.

Welcome to the Big League kid
Number 71 in your programme and soon to be number one in your heart, Generals’ rookie sensation, Michael Dal Colle, stood out in a positive light for yours truly. He looked strong on the puck as well as on his skates. The kid has a huge frame and carries it well on the ice, protecting the puck on the sideboards and giving the opposition fits in trying to move him off the puck.

Speaking of Bigg(s)
At 7:33 of the second period, Petes’ defenseman Clark Seymour attempted to railroad Dal Colle (MDC) coming across centre ice with MDC’s head down. Thankfully for MDC, he managed to avoid most of the impact, only breaking his stick.

I was happy to see Generals’ much-hyped-about, Tyler Biggs, come to MDC’s defence, dropping the gloves with Seymour. Unfortunately for Biggs, the short-lived fight was also the end of his game, as he received 17 minutes in penalties which included an instigator penalty and an automatic ticket to hit the showers.

Hopefully this practice of defending your teammate(s) at any cost will be a trend for all Generals skaters to follow–standing up for one another in the trenches says a lot about one’s own character and their willingness to ‘give it all’. Leaders are born and bred from this type of attitude.

Altshuller alright
Generals’ starting netminder, Daniel Altshuller, covered his net well on this night. He was square to the puck on most occasions and frankly was in the zone in his butterfly stance and challenged many of the Peterborough shooters. (Look for an up close and analytical piece on the Oshawa Generals’ netminding tandem of Altshuller and Ken Appleby later this weekend).

Nice touch
A collective pat on the back should go out to Generals’ General Manager Jeff Twohey as he was observed travelling down to ice level to greet his players for a game well-played. It appears from the onset that both the Generals’ hockey staff and its players are making all the right moves to open up the 2012 – 13 OHL season.

Up next
The Generals do not get much downtime from their opening night victory as they travel to Sudbury on Friday to square off against the Wolves. Keep your eye on Wolves’ forwards Joshua Leivo and Brody Silk. Leivo is a Toronto Maple Leafs’ draft choice. Silk can add offensive punch when healthy. Game time in Sudbury starts at 7:35 p.m.

Gens’ – Petes’ Game Report, Courtesy of OHL.com

For the love of the game, I remain, Dean Eastman.