5 Keys to Game 4 Presented By Mercedes-Benz Burlington
Game 1@ Hamilton: Hamilton 5 – Niagara 4 OT
Game 2 @ Hamilton: Hamilton 3 – Niagara 2 OT
Game 3 @ Niagara: Niagara 4 – Hamilton 3 OT
Game 4 @ Niagara: Wednesday April 10th at 7 pm
Leading Scorers
Hamilton
Matthew Strome
GP: 8 G: 3 A: 10 PTS: 13
Niagara
Akil Thomas
GP: 8 G: 5 A: 6 PTS: 11
- Overtime
During their regular season series the Bulldogs and IceDogs had 2 of their games end in overtime with each team winning once. In this playoff series all three games have gone to overtime, with the Bulldogs outshooting the IceDogs a combined 26-11 during the extra frame. Isaac Nurse and Ryan Moore ended it for the Bulldogs in Games 1 and 2, while Kirill Maksimov scored the overtime winner in Game 3 for the IceDogs. Oddly enough the team that has tied the game to send it to overtime has yet to win.
- Streaks Continue
Nicholas Caamano added an assist in Game 3 to keep his 8-game playoff point streak alive. Caamano is tied with Kitchener’s Kole Sherwood for the longest current playoff point streak in the OHL. Ryan Moore scored and added an assist on the tying goal all in the third period to stretch his playoff point streak to an impressive 7 games.
Niagara’s Akil Thomas and Kirill Maksimov are both on 4-game point streaks. Thomas scored and added an assist to keep his streak alive, while Maksimov scored the overtime winner to keep his going.
- Getting to them Early
The Bulldogs fell behind by 2 early in Game 3, and it took a big late 3rd period push to tie the game up. Shots after the first period were 13-12 in favour of Niagara, however, 6 of the Bulldogs’ shots were from a considerable distance out and Niagara goaltender Stephen Dhillon did not have a very hard time handling them. To help silence the Niagara crowd the Bulldogs need to come out of the gate flying and put the IceDogs on their heels.
In games when they score first, the Bulldogs are 4-1 in the playoffs. The IceDogs are 3-1 when scoring first. The team that has scored the first goal has won all 3 games in this series.
- Who’s Hot?
Hamilton
Isaac Nurse
Throwing the body, killing penalties, and scoring goals, is there anything that Nurse hasn’t done in these playoffs? The Hamilton native is tied for second on the Bulldogs in goals, and has scored the only shorthanded goal for the Bulldogs in the playoffs. In his last 4 games Nurse has 4 points and 13 shots on goal.
Niagara
Stephen Dhillon
Dhillon was a workhorse for the IceDogs in Round 1 against the Generals, and in Round 2 the Bulldogs have managed to work Dhillon even harder. The IceDogs netminder has faced an average of 49 shots per game this series, posting a .925 SV% and a 3.23 GAA.
- Penalties, Penalties, Penalties!
The IceDogs and the Bulldogs rank 1st and 2nd respectively in most times shorthanded during the playoffs. There has not been too much even strength time played in this series. The Bulldogs have been shorthanded 19 times, while the IceDogs have been shorthanded 14 times through the first three games of the series. These power-play opportunities have allowed for 10 power play goals to be scored between the 2 teams. All 3 of the tying goals in the series have come on the power-play.
Mercedes Benz Burlington wants to give you the chance to win a Mercedes Benz for the weekend. Visit the Mercedes Benz booth at all Bulldogs home playoff games in front of section 117 on the concourse to enter.
