Petes fall to Bulldogs in first loss of season
‘Execution was poor,’ says coach after 7-1 loss Saturday
After winning their first three games the Peterborough Petes were humbled by the defending OHL champions Saturday night.
Hamilton Bulldogs blasted the Petes 7-1 at the Memorial Centre, chasing CHL goalie of the week Hunter Jones after six goals in two periods.
With the Petes not playing again until they host the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Thursday, head coach Rob Wilson has plenty of ammunition for practice.
“The last two days I haven’t been happy with practice, I thought our execution was poor,” said Wilson. “I warned them about it this morning. Sometimes you get complacent. It happens. You win a few games and start feeling good about yourselves.”
Wilson thought Hamilton played hard for head coach Dave Matsos, who is sidelined after collapsing behind the bench in Barrie last week.
“I wish him well, he’s a good friend,” said Wilson. “Their players played for him and showed a ton of emotion. I thought we were flat and didn’t show much emotion.”
The Bulldogs took advantage of sloppy play in the Petes’ zone to jump ahead 2-0 on goals 2:11 apart. German import Tim Fleischer notched his first OHL goal tipping Kade Landry’s point shot. Jones stopped Arthur Kallyev’s shot on the second goal but Brandon Saigeon slid the rebound across the crease where Matthew Strome banged it in.
Kallyev, who had four points, was awarded a penalty shot after tumbling into Jones on a breakaway with 38 seconds left in the opening frame. He snapped a shot five-hole.
“That team plays very similar to us and they were executing more plays than us,” said Petes blueliner Declan Chisholm. “We weren’t intense. Not winning puck battles. Not making the right decisions. They simply outworked us.”
The wheels came off late in the second period when Hamilton strung together three goals 4:29 apart. It came after the Petes failed to take advantage of a fourminute power play when Navrin Mutter checked Cole Fraser from behind.
Liam Stephens and Isaac Nurse redirected shots past Jones and Kallyev one-timed a cross-ice pass on a four-on-three power play at 19:01.
Petes rookie goalie Tye Austin saw his first OHL regular season action taking over for Jones to start the third. He stopped nine of 10 shots.
“It wasn’t the circumstance you want to put him in,” said Wilson, “but Hunter has played great for us. I thought it was a good opportunity get Tye in. He did a good job for us.”
Petes fans raised $700 in a chuck-a-puck contest initiated by Austin to help tornado victims in his hometown of Dunrobin.
Petes rookie Cameron Butler broke Nick Donofrio’s shutout bid on a power play with 10:01 left. He redirected Semyon Der-Arguchintsev’s shot for his second goal in four OHL games.
“It was pretty cool to get my first one in my hometown of Ottawa in front of family and friends,” said Butler. “To get the first one in front of the home crowd was a pretty cool feeling, too. Hopefully, I can continue to play well.”
Stephens rounded out the scoring from the slot burying D.J. King’s centering pass.
Fraser got back at Mutter for his hit from behind with a big hit late in the game. Mutter took exception and hit Fraser and then cross checked him in the face drawing a major penalty. Petes associate coach Andrew Verner was vocal with officials on the play.
“Andrew was just saying it was the same player who hit Cole from behind earlier in the game,” said Wilson. “Andrew was upset because one of our players got a cheap shot in a 7-1 game.”
NOTES: Three stars were: 1. Arthur Kallyev (H); 2. Kade Landry (H); 3. Tim Fleischer (H)… Hardest working Petes was Cameron Butler.