Strong third period in tough loss
Petes look to rebound when they host the Steelheads tonight
Peterborough Petes head coach Rob Wilson expects the team he saw in the third period Thursday to be the one that starts the first period on Saturday.
The Petes dominated the Sarnia Sting in the third period, but it was too little too late.
After spotting the Western Conference’s last place team an early three-goal lead the Petes, who entered the game in first place in the Eastern Conference, could get no closer than the 4-2 final score.
They’ll look to get back on track in their first back-to-back home games this season with the Mississauga Steelheads at the Memorial Centre at 7:05 p.m.
The Petes got themselves in trouble right away taking a penalty 19 seconds into the game with struggling sophomore goalie Tye Austin trying to get his confidence back in his third start of the season. Sarnia scored its first of three power play markers.
Wilson said it’s tough for a goalie to settle into a game when he’s put in an early penalty kill situation.
“We know Tye is a good goalie,” Wilson said.
“He was a very good goalie for us last year. He’s still very young. He’s 17 years old. I thought he was very good tonight and I didn’t see any issues in his game. I don’t think we supported him well. It would be nice to get him a win or two under his belt to help his confidence. I think he’ll feel pretty good about the way he played.
“I didn’t like our game from the start,” Wilson said. “The very first shift off the draw three guys got sucked in on the forecheck and that started it. From there we just weren’t the way we’ve been playing. I told them Sarnia can score goals and when you gift a team the lead like that it’s very hard to come back.”
He said they can build off a strong third period where they fired 19 shots on goal and many others that missed the net.
“We brought lots of energy in the third and worked hard. We shot the puck a lot. If we’d hit the net a few more times we might have had some puck luck,” he said.
Hudson Wilson made his Petes debut after being obtained from the Ottawa 67’s in a trade on Wednesday.
“It was obviously weird,” Wilson said.
“I’ve been in one spot for four years and always been on the other side of that rink out there. It’s weird but the guys have welcomed me with open arms and have been great to me. I can’t complain at all and I’m excited to get going. Hopefully we can do something big this year.”
Wilson said he saw in the third period the Petes team he played against twice this season.
“I didn’t enjoy playing the Petes ever. They are big. They have depth. They hit a lot and finish their checks. That third period team is what I saw when they started moving the puck well and moving their feet and making the plays not a lot of people can make. That’s the Petes I remember playing against.”