BULLDOGS EARN SWEEP & ADVANCE WITH 7-3 GAME 4 VICTORY
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. Entering play on Thursday night the Hamilton Bulldogs had the opportunity to step into the second round of the OHL Playoffs with a 4th straight win and earn the franchise’s first sweep of a playoff series.
Picking up right where they left off in Game 3, the Bulldogs hit the board early and often in the opening frame. Just 1:49 in, George Diaco, who moved to the wing with Mason McTavish and Ryan Winterton fed McTavish for his 4th goal of the postseason to get the offence rolling. A beautiful 3-way passing play followed at 8:43 as Patrick Thomas fed Jan Mysak below the right circle, spinning it back to George Diaco who recorded his 1st of the playoffs to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead on the power-play goal. At 11:32 with the Bulldogs again on the man advantage Ryan Winterton slid the puck to the middle of the blue line for Mason McTavish who set Nathan Staios on a tee for his 1st of the playoffs making it 3-0 Hamilton. Before the frame was out, Patrick Thomas hit Arber Xhekaj with a brilliant seem pass for Xhekaj to record his 2nd of the playoffs at 13:06, ending the period with a 4-0 Bulldogs lead.
Fighting for their playoff lives, the Peterborough Petes mounted a comeback in a penalty filled second period that saw six 10-minute misconducts handed out between the two teams including Avery Hayes being ejected from the hockey game after a high cross-check, following being injured on a slash in the first period. With the Hayes major expiring, the Petes scored at 8:02 to get some life in the game through Joe Carroll’s second of the post-season. The Petes cut the Bulldogs lead in half at 10:53 as Emmett Sproule broke away shorthanded and as able to elude a Nathan Staios stick-check and score making it a 4-2 game. Jorian Donovan bubbled the lead back to three at 17:18 as an Arber Xhekaj left point shot hit the end boards, rolling out to Donovan at the right point who stepped into the circle and ripped a wrister past Simpson, recording his 1st OHL playoff goal making it a 5-2. The Petes fought right back at 18:08 in a 2-on-1 as Sproule fed Tucker Robertson out front of the Bulldogs net for his 3rd of the playoffs to make it 5-3 through 40 minutes with Hamilton looking to close the series out and Peterborough battling to extend it.
A tight third period saw the Bulldogs get the upper hand back, on the power-play at 11:51, Logan Morrison worked down the left half boards, stationing up for a pass to Jan Mysak in the bumper spot that rolled under Mysak’s forehand but rolled directly to the stick of Mason McTavish who whipped a shot past Simpson to give the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead. Peterborough earned a late power-play with just over 3-minutes to play and pulling their goaltender for a 6-on-4 advantage but a broken stick on a one timer attempt by Joe Carroll rolled directly to Lawson Sherk who fired the puck 160-feet into the open Petes goal for the shorthanded marker at 17:32 putting a final exclamation point on the series with Marco Costantini stopping 28 of 31 in a 7-3 Game 4 victory giving the Hamilton Bulldogs the 4-game sweep and a birth in the second round.
The Hamilton Bulldogs return to the FirstOntario Centre for Game 1 of the second round of the OHL Playoffs with a date and time to be determined.
