OHL player, penalty box attendant have heated exchange ... then become best friends

Like the Montagues and Capulets, Wednesday night's Game 4 of the OHL Championship between the London Knights and Peterborough Petes yielded a wonderful moment between forbidden lovers that has the hockey world howling.

After taking a high sticking penalty at the 5:27 mark of the third period of the crucial game, London Knights forward Ryan Humphrey got into an animated exchange with penalty box attendant Gord Lowes.

The two appeared highly spirited during the intense confrontation, but by the end of matters, a forgiving pat on the back by Lowes indicated that the two had smoothed things over as he exited the box.

Even funnier, however, was that after Humphries returned to the penalty box once again — this time on a slashing minor shortly after the Pete’s made the score 4-1 — the two appeared jovial in the box, sitting side by side and looking like old best friends who were just reunited.

The exchange, of course, caught the eyes of hockey fans across Twitter, who couldn’t believe the budding bromance happening before their eyes.

Humphries would exit the penalty box midway through the third with his team down 4-1, however, a pair of late third-period goals by Knights blueliner Sam Dickinson and Denver Barkey brought the game to within one late.

Unfortunately, the comeback effort would fall short, as the electric Avery Hayes, an undrafted overager who finished the OHL regular season with 43 goals, tallied an important empty-netter to seal the win and help Peterborough stake a commanding 3-1 series lead.

With the win, Peterborough moves within one win of claiming their first J. Ross Robertson Cup and Memorial Cup berth since 2006, a team that was led by future NHLers Steve Downie and Zach Bogosian.

London, meanwhile, will look to claw back in the series on Friday, as the series shifts back to Budweiser Garden in London for Game 5.