BULLDOGS FALL 4-3 TO STEELHEADS IN OT
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. The Hamilton Bulldogs returned to home ice looking for their third straight win coming off a 4-2 victory over the Niagara IceDogs on Wednesday night hosting the Mississauga Steelheads for the final time this season.
Hamilton’s Avery Hayes got right to work firing two quality shots on net in the first eighty seconds, both handled swiftly by Steelheads rookie netminder, Ryerson Leenders. As the Bulldogs continued to pressure early on, Mason Zebeski got sent to the box for holding, giving the home side first crack on the man advantage. The power-play didn’t go exactly as planned however, as Luca DelBelBelluz captured a bouncing puck at his defensive blueline, raced in on a breakaway and tuck it backhand through the five-hole of Drobac for a short-handed tally to give the Steelheads a 1-0 at 4:11. With the Steelheads on the power-play at 7:23, Kai Schwindt was left all alone on the right-wing side working to the front of the net and snapped it by the blocker of Drobac for his 7th of the season, giving Mississauga a 2-0 lead, and DelBelBelluz his second point of the night. Despite outshooting the Steelheads 12-6 in the opening frame, the Bulldogs hit the locker room down 2-0 through 20-minutes.
The second period opened in favor of the Bulldogs as Avery Hayes received a pass in the left circle from Logan Morrison and ripped it past Leenders to cut the deficit to 2-1 on his 25th of the season. Just over five minutes later, Gavin White picked up the puck from a scramble in his defensive slot and turned it into a 2-on-1 with Masen Wray. White cut to the inside of the right circle and fired one under the arm of Leenders to tie the game at 2-2 at 9:24. Just over 30-seconds later with the game 4-on-4, Mississauga’s Owen Beck was able to use the extra space on the ice to his advantage, snapping a shot under the glove of Drobac for his 17th of the season, regaining the Steelheads lead 3-2 at 10:03. Hamilton didn’t let up, putting pressure on Leenders who was able to make a big glove save from a Jorian Donovan point shot to keep his team ahead. In the dying minutes of the frame, after Owen Beck laid a hard, high hit on Avery Hayes the Bulldogs sniper responded on the power-play. With Logan Morrison dropping the puck from the right circle to the top of the formation for Gavin White, the defenseman slid it left for Hayes to unload a one-timer, tying the game 3-3 at 18:35 and sending the teams knotted up to the locker room after 40-minutes.
The third period began far quieter than the preceding two. Hamilton & Mississauga parried and deflected keeping either side from gaining significant chances. With 6 minutes remaining in the game, Ryerson Leenders made clutch back-to-back saves on net front opportunities by Morrison and Xhekaj, keeping the Bulldogs from their first lead of the night. With 60-minutes unable to solve the deadlock, the game needed overtime with the Bulldogs holding a 32-15 advantage in shots on goal through regulation.
Overtime began with Mississauga earning first possession. DelBelBelluz quickly made some room and Drobac made a big stop preventing, the Steelheads center from his second of the night. 2:08 into overtime, Kai Schwindt made a nifty move through the skates of the Bulldogs defensemen and backhanded the puck on goal which was cleaned up by Zander Veccia to give Mississauga the 4-3 victory on his 6th of the season.
The Bulldogs close out the 2022 calendar with a rematch with the Steelheads on Saturday, December 31st at Paramount Fine Foods Centre with a 2:00pm puck drop.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs 2022-23 Holiday Flex packages or single-game tickets call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com
