HAMILTON - Rob Wilson is showing no one is above the law when it comes to doing things the right way.

The Peterborough Petes' head coach sat out the club's star player and leading scorer, Ryan Merkley, in a pivotal match Saturday night against the Hamilton Bulldogs.

The Petes' struggles continued as they surrendered a 4-3 lead with three unanswered goals in a 6-4 loss before 3,705 fans at the FirstOntario Centre.

The Petes' hold on the eighth and final playoff spot in the OHL's Eastern Conference was trimmed to three points as the ninth-place Barrie Colts beat the Kingston Frontenacs 3-1. Both teams have 13 regular season games remaining.

The Petes (25-27-1-2), losers of nine of 12 games, host the Niagara IceDogs for a Family Day Monday matinee at 2 p.m. at the Memorial Centre.

Michael Little returned to the Petes' lineup after sitting out one game for taking a late penalty that cost them a game in Oshawa on Wednesday. Merkley was the next to sit out for what Wilson called a hockey-related decision.

"Guys must be accountable for their play," said Wilson. "You have to play in all areas of the ice and play 110 per cent and give that all the time."

Merkley will be back in the lineup Monday, said Wilson.

Jan Jenik had two goals and two assists and Arthur Kaliyev a goal and two assists to pace Hamilton. Zach Gallant and Cameron Butler had a goal and assist each for the Petes.

Jenik scored just 14 seconds after the Petes took their only lead 2:48 into the third. The way Jenik was allowed to gain prime scoring territory was something Wilson saw too much of in the game.

"Hamilton got easy goals tonight," said Wilson. "You want to try to keep players to the outside and not let them have the inside on you. We let a good player into a dangerous area. It was a really poor goal to give up."

The teams traded first period goals on similar situations.

Petes goalie Hunter Jones lost track of a Kaliyev rebound allowing Matthew Strome to net it on the open side at 11:39.

Bulldogs goalie Nick Donofrio couldn't find a Declan Chisholm sharp angle shot that got behind him and Gallant battled his way to the net to knock the loose puck in at 15:28.

The Bulldogs struck twice in 25 seconds to jump ahead 3-1 at the 5:19 mark. Jenik forced Cole Fraser to turn the puck over and he fed Kaliyev who backhanded his 45th goal of the season. Jenik did it himself on the next rush deking Matt McNamara before ripping a shot inside the far post.

For the fifth consecutive game the Petes rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie it with goals 72 seconds apart.

Kaliyev hit a goalpost and the Petes turned it up ice with Gallant dropping a pass to McNamara who slapped a shot past Donofrio. Butler was credited with his 15th goal on the tying marker as his shot deflected off ex-Pete Cameron Supryka.

Chris Paquette gave the Petes their first lead after Liam Kirk deked past a Bulldogs defender and slid him a pass.

It lasted 14 seconds as Jenik went coast-to-coast getting past a couple of Petes defenders before beating Jones.

Hamilton regained the lead at 6:12 when Tim Fleischer took Eric Henderson's pass on the rush and heisted long enough to get Jones to commit before shooting for a 5-4 lead.

Logan Morrison made it a two-goal lead on a shot that deflected off Paquette's stick.

NOTES: The three stars Saturday were 1. Jan Jenik (H); 2. Arthur Kaliyev (H); 3. Zach Gallant (P) . The hardest working Pete was Declan Chisholm.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

mike.davies@peterboroughdaily.com

Petes @ Bulldogs

First Period

1-Bulldogs, Strome 27 (Kaliyev, Jenik) 11:39

2-Petes, Gallant 8 (Hinz, Chisholm) 15:28

Penalties: Hayes (H) high sticking 6:22.

Second Period

3-Bulldogs, Kaliyev 45 (Jenik) 4:54

4-Bulldogs, Jenik 6 (Kaliyev, Gravelle) 5:19

5-Petes, McNamara 3 (Gallant, Robertson) 12:11

6-Petes, Butler 15 13:23

Penalties: Kirk (P) tripping 0:23; Supryka (H) tripping 8:33; Osmanski (P) cross checking 15:17.

Third Period

7-Petes, Paquette 24 (Kirk, Butler) 2:48

8-Bulldogs, Jenik 7 3:02

9-Bulldogs, Fleischer 7 (Henderson, Nurse) 6:12

10-Bulldogs, Morrison 11 (Landry, Henderson) 11:54

Penalties: Butler (P) high sticking 3:24; Kaliyev (H) holding 10:35; Gallant (P) tripping 10:42; Fraser (P) 10-minue misconduct 11:54; Osmanski (P) roughing, Strome (H) interference 12:52.

Goaltenders: Jones, Petes, Donofrio, Bulldogs.

Referees: Schein, Wilmot. Linesmen: Ceko, Makohn.

Attendance: 3,705 at the FirstOntario Centre.

Shots: 1 2 3 T

Petes 6 6 3 15

Bulldogs 10 10 12 32

