Petes take step backwards
Turnover proves costly after Petes drew within a goal of Eastern Conference leaders
HAMILTON – The Peterborough Petes aspired to be where the Hamilton Bulldogs are at the top of the OHL’s Eastern Conference this season.
Since a 3-2 overtime win against Hamilton on Nov .23 the gap between the two teams has become a wide one as evidenced by Hamilton’s 7-2 win before 2,752 fans at the FirstOntario Centre on Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs have outscored the Petes 12-4 in their last two meetings and now sit 19 points ahead of the sixth place Petes who have lost eight of their last nine games.
The gap wasn’t so wide until the third period.
In fact, the Petes drew within a goal at 3-2 early in the third until a Cole Fraser giveaway followed 2:17 later by a Jonathan Ang turnover started a four-goal Hamilton run.
“We did it to ourselves,” said Petes coach Jody Hull. “Yeah, they worked when we made our turnovers but we did it to ourselves. We have no one else to point fingers at but ourselves.”
The third period was a step backwards for the Petes who had shown some signs of progress after the Christmas break.
“We made some uncharacteristic mistakes we hadn’t made in three games that allowed a high-powered offensive team some good chances,” Hull said. “When you give them those types of opportunities they’re usually going to end up in the back of your net.”
It was more individual breakdowns than the team not playing the systems properly, Hull said.
“No matter what kind of system you have in place if you don’t eliminate those you’re not going to win,” he said.
The Petes can’t dwell on the result as they’re back home Thursday night against Windsor.
“That was our message to our guys. We have to let that one go and start to focus on (Thursday),” Hull said.
The high flying Bulldogs jumped to a 3-1 lead while outshooting the Petes 14-7 in the first period.
Will Bitten got a step on Petes’ defender Alex Black and blew a farside shot over goalie Hunter Jones’s blocker 4:43 into the game.
The Petes got it back 13 seconds later as Nikita Korostelev fired a shot off the wing that deflected off defenceman Riley Stillman’s stick and through goalie Kaden Fulcher’s legs. Korostelev, who had a goal and assist, has points in six straight games including five goals and six assists.
Matthew Strome, who along with Isaac Nurse scored two goals, came in as the trailer on a three-on-two and finished a three-way passing play from Bitten and Ryan Moore at 8:12.
Jones stopped Arthur Kallyev on a penalty shot after he was hauled down by Fraser on a breakaway. Hamilton went up by two at 14:08 when Mackenzie Entwistle chipped in Kade Landry’s rebound.
The Petes had their chances in a scoreless second period. Zach Gallant hit the post on a shot that was reviewed on video after the Petes celebrated like they had scored. Logan DeNoble almost scored short-handed getting a puck behind Fulcher who fell back on it before it crossed the line. Jones made a brilliant save off a Justin Lemcke shot that deflected off Kallyev as that power play ended.
The Petes got within a goal 38 seconds into the third period and four seconds into a power play. Korostelev’s shot was deflected and Gallant knocked in the loose puck. The Petes pressed on the next shift and Fulcher made a pad save and then gloved the rebound.
At 2:49 Fraser coughed up the puck to Strome who drilled his 23rd of the season past Jones. Then Ang, who was on the ice for all five goals against in a 5-4 overtime loss Monday to Kitchener, lost the puck at the Hamilton blue-line to Nurse who blew a shot off the right wing past Jones at 5:06 and the horses were out of the barn. Kallyev converted a nifty backhand feed by Connor McMichael and Nurse scored short-handed to round out the scoring.
NOTES: Tim Hortons will be giving away many prizes when the Petes host the Windsor Spitfires Thursday night at the PMC. It’s also Peterborough Minor Hockey Council Night as 300 AAA hockey players are expected to be in attendance .... Adam Timleck missed his second straight game to an upper bodyinjury. Declan Chisholm (high ankle sprain) and Matt McNamara (upper body) were also out and John Parker-Jones was a healthy scratch .... Campbellford native Nathan Dunkley has been dealt to the London Knights in a trade that will bring high scorer Cliff Pu to the Kingston Frontenacs, the London Free Press reported Wednesday. Dunkley, a 5-foot-11, 185 pounder, is