BROWN’S PAIR IGNITES BRILLIANT BULLDOGS COMEBACK WIN
BRANTFORD, ONTARIO. Following a Thursday night road win in Peterborough the Brantford Bulldogs returned home to host the Oshawa Generals on Friday night. The Bulldogs entered the game 4-0-1 in the team’s last five outings but were faced with a test after loosing Luca Testa, Dylan Tsherna & Noah Roberts all to expected short term absences on Thursday.
Taking advantage of the undermanned Bulldogs lineup, the Generals got to an early 5-on-3 striking through Beckett Sennecke from the left circle for his 14th of the year taking the 1-0 lead. The Generals appeared to double the lead in ensuing 5-on-4 but Colby Barlow’s goal was called back on an offside. The visitors did manage to double the lead at 15:27 when Ben Radley had the puck hop on him around the back of the Bulldogs net allowing Colby Barlow to battle it loose and feed it for Beckett Sennecke for his 2nd of the period and 15th of the year giving the Generals a 2-0 lead. The Bulldogs struck iron twice in the opening frame with Cole Brown rifling a shot off the elbow between crossbar and post as well as Jake O’Brien denting the crossbar with an offering of his own. With Jacob Oster staying unblemished through 20 minutes, the Generals took the 2-0 lead to the locker room.
The Bulldogs came out with jump for the second period fed by an incredible early 2-on-1 save by David Egorov on Callum Ritchie. Getting onto the power-play. At 2:39, Jake O’Brien sent the puck to Nick Lardis in the right circle, twisting it back to the line for Tomas Hamara. The power-play quarterback fired through a Cole Brown screen to record his 2nd of the season, cutting the defecit to 2-1. The Generals got back to the front foot at 12:33 with Callum Ritchie feeding Luca D’Amato in the right circle, D’Amato fired the puck cross-ice where Luke Torrence handled the hot pass in the slot, catching David Egorov off guard and recording his 9th of the year. With 40 minutes in the book, the Generals carried a 3-1 lead to the locker room.
The third period started the way the second ended, with the Generals expanding their lead again. Just afted a Generals power-play expired, Ethan Toms tossed the puck to the front of the Bulldogs goal where Callum Ritchie was left all alone with David Egorov who stopped the initial but Ritchie shoveled the rebound over the goal line for his 6th and a 4-1 Generals lead. After Harrison Franssen was served with a match penalty for a slew foot on Patrick Thomas, the Bulldogs offense found a spark. Nick Lardis played the puck to the end boards where Patrick Thomas, under heavy pressure from Zachary Sandhu, was able to bounce a pass to the side of the net for Cole Brown that the power-forward was able to lift over Oster to record his 7th of the season pulling the Bulldogs back to within a pair at 9:43. On the same major power-play, Patrick Thomas fed the puck from behind the net to Nick Lardis, his one-time drive was denied but Jake O’Brien was on the spot to hammer home his 11th of the season, making it a 4-3 game. Just after the power-play expired at 13:55, Owen Protz walked in off the right point, eluding a defender and whistling a shot to the net where Cole Brown knocked it into the goal for his 2nd of the game & 8th of the season, tying the game 4-4 in dramatic fashion. With David Egorov making 31 saves through regulation, the Bulldogs furious comeback incredibly earned the hosts a point. In the overtime session, the Bulldogs controlled the period, keeping possession for the majority of the extra frame and outshooting the Generals 3-on-3 by a 6-1 margin. A goal post struck by Nick Lardis and a brilliant glove save from Oster assured a shootout for the two rivals. Only a single goal was scored in the shootout and it was a beauty. Jake O’Brien carrying on the left side moved net front and turned to his backhand shelving the puck over a sprawling Oster and with Egorov stopping all 3 Generals shooters the Bulldogs completed the comeback with a 5-4 victory.
The Brantford Bulldogs wrap up their Renway Retro Weekend on Saturday night, November 23rd, hosting the Kingston Frontenacs for a 7:00pm start.
