Robertson makes impact in return to lineup
Hat trick and two assists as Petes romp to 8-2 win over Fronts
Two days after Kingston traded away Jason Robertson his brother Nick Robertson beat up on the Frontenacs.
Returning after missing four games to a wrist injury Robertson fired three goals and two assists in an 8-2 thumping before 3,246 fans at the Memorial Centre on Thursday night.
The Petes blow open a close game with five straight secondperiod goals. Liam Kirk snapped a goal scoring drought with two goals.
The line of Robertson, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and Adam Timleck feasted on the Frontenacs to snap a two-game losing streak.
Der-Arguchintsev, benched with a -5 rating in Saturday’s 7-3 loss in Sarnia, responded with a +5 and three assists. Timleck had a goal and assist.
The Petes (13-11-0) head onto the road for games in Erie on Saturday night and Hamilton on Sunday afternoon.
The Frontenacs signalled a full rebuild when they dealt Jason Robertson and Jacob Paquette to the Niagara IceDogs on Tuesday for Billy Constantinou, Ian Martin and 11 draft picks. They held their own with the Petes through 20 minutes. Petes goalie Hunter Jones tried to clear the puck and it was picked off by Kingston’s Brett Neumann and Ian Derungs ripped his pass five-hole 12:20 into the game.
Nick Robertson scored a highlight reel marker to tie the game with 38 seconds to go in the first. Timleck got the puck to Robertson in the slot and he put four moves on Kingston goalie Brad Bonello before slipping the puck behind him.
Timleck put the Petes ahead 4:08 into the second on a play initiated by Robertson and DerArguchintsev. The latter got a shot off that Bonello kicked out and Timleck netted the rebound. Timleck has scored four of his eight goals this season in the past four games. The goal gave the Petes life as they added two more in the next 4:38 to chase Bonello.
Kirk scored his first goal since Sept. 27 on a nifty set-up by Pavel Gogolev two minutes later. Gogolev was in prime scoring position but patiently waited for Bonello to commit before dishing the puck to a wide-open Kirk who had a wide-open side of the net.
Matt McNamara jumped into an odd-man rush to finish a crosscrease pass from Der-Arguchintsev at 8:46 for a 4-1 lead.
Robertson notched his second after picking off a Kingston pass and snapping a shot past goalie Ryan Dugas who replaced Bonello.
Austin Osmanski tipped Chad Denault’s shot for his first goal of the season to make it 6-1 at 12:10.
Kirk’s second goal deflected off a skate of a Kingston defender. Rookie Kallaway Mercer scored his first OHL goal for Kingston
1:28 later.
Robertson capped the hat trick firing a shot over Dugas’ pad at 11:06.
NOTES: The Petes donated $2,500 from their education fund to Humboldt Broncos chaplain Sean Brandow prior to the game. Brandow was guest speaker for Faith Night. He talked to fans following the game about the tragic Humboldt bus crash in April that became a rallying point for the country and hockey community….
Nick Robertson returned to the lineup after missing two weeks with an aggravated wrist injury. Petes head coach Rob Wilson said it’s likely Robertson will play with a wrist brace the rest of the year. John Parker-Jones was a healthy scratch along with Cameron Supryka and Jacob Partridge.
Captain Zach Gallant (broken leg) is the only injured Pete…. The Peterborough Foley Bus Lines Minor Midget AAA Petes got an honourable mention in the inaugural edition of the 2018-19 OHL Cup Showcase Top 10 rankings released on Thursday. The Don Mills Flyers are the No. 1 ranked team. The top OMHA
squad is the Whitby Wildcats at No. 4.… The three stars were 1. Nick Robertson (P); 2. Liam Kirk (P); 3. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (P)…. The hardest working Pete was Adam Timleck.