Brighton hockey freshman on premier line scores twice in rivalry win over Howell
BRIGHTON — Earning a spot on the Brighton hockey team as a freshman is a big enough show of confidence from the coaching staff.
But the ultimate endorsement is being slotted onto one of the top lines in Michigan as a ninth-grader.
Tim Peterson is showing he not only belongs on a team coming off back-to-back state Division 1 runner-up finishes, but on the same unit with returning all-staters and career 100-point producers Cam Duffany and Lane Petit.
Peterson scored twice Thursday night for third-ranked Brighton in a 4-0 victory over fifth-ranked Howell before a standing-room-only crowd at Kensington Valley Ice House.
The goals were his second and third of the season, the other coming in an early victory over Hartland. That prompted a teammate to note he has done his most damage against teams with Finnish players while awarding him the oversized Player of the Game hat in the dressing room.
“It’s good to get two goals against some cousins,” said Peterson, one of the countless Finnish-American Livingston County hockey players. “There’s one second cousin, a couple others. It’s a little more fun. It’s exciting to play against them, rub it in to them a little bit.”
Although Peterson came into the night with only one goal and two assists in eight games, he has remained on the top line with Duffany (13 goals, 17 assists) and Petit (15 goals, eight assists).
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“One, he has a lot of skill,” Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto said. “He’s pretty poised and some of that confidence is still growing. We just told him, ‘You can shoot the puck. You get in a good spot, shoot the puck. You don’t have to defer to those guys.’
“We’ve seen it in practice lately. I thought he had a really good week and he got the puck in good spots a couple times and put it in the back of the net.”
Peterson opened the scoring with 1:00 left on the first-period clock, taking a pass from Duffany and scoring from the bottom of the left circle on the power play.
After Marek Alent made it 2-0 with a deflection on the power play for the only goal of the second period, Duffany set up Peterson in the slot for the third goal of the game with 1:56 remaining in the third period.
“It’s been fun,” Peterson said of his varsity experience so far. “It’s a little tough. Some games I haven’t been playing the best. I’ve put a lot of hard work in this season so far. It’s a faster pace, a lot quicker, a little more physical than my old team.”
Sophomore defenseman Eddie Wheeler capped the victory by scoring into an empty-net goal with 16.8 seconds left.
Levi Pennala made 17 saves for the shutout.
Top defender returns
A key to the Bulldogs’ defensive performance was the return of junior defenseman Ryan Watkins, a second-team all-stater last season. Watkins missed three games with an injury.
“He’s the anchor of our defense,” Kivisto said. “He makes a tremendous impact when he’s playing. He helps our power-play unit, and five-on-five he’s unbelievable. A big part of what we did today was attributed to Ryan Watkins being back in the lineup.”
Loss doesn't diminish Howell's start
It was a disappointing outcome for Howell, which has lost 14 of its 15 meetings with Brighton. Still, the Highlanders are off to a 9-2-1 start, their best 12-game record since they were 10-2 in 2009-10. That Howell team reached its second straight Division 1 title game.
“We’ve got nine wins,” Howell coach Rocky Johnson said. “We’re one of the top teams in the state. That’s not going to change because you lose to a top team 3-0, with an open-net goal to make it 4. Yeah, it’s a tough game. We’re gonna have to learn from it. I think our players realize we got outmuscled, out-strengthed.”
Rivalry boils over
The closest thing to a fight you’ll see in high school hockey took place with 5:45 left in the second period when players began throwing punches after coming together following a save by Howell goalie Andrew Klei.
Howell’s Braden Mitter and Dominic Giordano got tangled up with Brighton’s Aiden Seiter behind the net. As things were about to settle down and Mitter was skating toward center ice, Seiter cross-checked Mitter in the back. Mitter retaliated with a high stick and some punches.
Mitter and Giordano received game disqualifications, while Seiter received two game disqualifications, infractions that carry suspensions.
“Did we earn any of that?” Johnson said. “That’s a question you have to ask and go back and look at the film. I would disagree with most of it, but I’m not the referee.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton blanks Howell in clash of state-ranked hockey rivals
