BULLDOGS FEELING 22 AS VANACKER’S PAIR LEADS 5-2 WIN IN NIAGARA
ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIO. Opening up a 3-in-4 weekend on five straight wins the Brantford Bulldogs paid their second visit of the season to the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines on Thursday night looking to extend their win streak against the Niagara IceDogs to 22 dating back to November, 2019.
The Bulldogs got out to a dream start with a goal just 23 seconds into the game as former IceDogs captain Zakary Lavoie started the play below the goal line kicking the puck loose to Marek Vanacker. Back from the CHL Top Prospects game, Vanacker moved the puck to the left circle for Jake O’Brien who worked it right back to Vanacker at the front of the net for his 23rd of the season to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead, extending the scoring streaks of all three players. Vanacker to 8 games, Lavoie to 7 games and O’Brien to 6 games. The Bulldogs poured the pressure onto the net of Charlie Robertson in the first period, sending 20 shots with Robertson denying 19 of them in the frame. Florian Xhekaj had the best chances back to back to extend the Bulldogs lead, first off a Robertson save, Xhekaj batted the puck out of the air into the net but with a high stick. The Bulldogs centerman followed that by powering down the right wing side, making a cut to the front of the net and lifting a backhand off the crossbar, one of 4 rings of the iron in the opening frame for the Bulldogs, off the back of Robertson only to be spiked off the goal line by a Niagara defender. Against the run of play, Niagara struck back at 16:46 with a Bulldogs defenseman caught deep, Callum Cheynowski & Mathieu Paris combined to send Ryan Roobroeck on a breakaway, despite a valiant effort from Marek Vanacker to get back, Roobroeck was able to tuck his 14th around Egorov’s pad to tie the game 1-1. Roobroeck shocked the crowd by giving the IceDogs the lead at 19:31 after a zone exit pass bounced off a Bulldog skate and right to the IceDogs top rookie in the slot where he whipped a quick release over an unexpecting Egorov’s glove to give the IceDogs a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes.
David Egorov was the story of the middle frame, turning aside all 11 shots he faced in the frame with a handful of the spectacular variety. The biggest came in the first half of the frame with Alex Assadourian taking a 2-on-1 feed on David Egorov’s left. Egorov made an explosive move from his right to his left, sprawling out and making a brilliant glove save to keep the game 2-1. After the Bulldogs clanged another post, their 5th of the game, on a long Daniil Sobolev point drive, Egorov stood up for his mates again gloving aside a Ryan Roobroeck slot shot. The Bulldogs offense cracked Robertson at 15:59 to tie the game with Lucas Moore setting the returning Cole Brown to power down the right wing. Cutting at the bottom of the circle and driving the goal, Brown slid the puck to Florian Xhekaj who hammered home his 15th of the season knotting the game 2-2. Just 2:50 later, Jake O’Brien tossed the puck in neutral ice to Daniil Sobolev who moved it to Zakary Lavoie working into the Niagara zone. From the top of the right circle Lavioe ripped a bullet past Robertson for his 18th of the season, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 at 18:49 they took to the locker room after 40 minutes.
The Bulldogs used the final frame to seal the game, at 7:48, Jake O’Brien made a backhand touch pass from the right half wall to the right circle where Zakaray Lavoie turned it circle to circle to the left for Marek Vanacker to collect his 2nd of the game and 24th of the season giving the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead. Hard work paid off for the Bulldogs shutdown line of Ben Bujold, Lawson Sherk & Adrian Rebelo, having not allowed a goal against in 4 games since being put together, the group collected their 2nd when Ben Bujold played off on the right side for Lucas Moore whose shot was tipped at the top of the crease by Rebelo for his 1st of the season and a 5-2 lead that the Bulldogs held for their 22nd straight win over the Niagara IceDogs.
The Bulldogs return to home ice on Saturday, January 27th hosting the Kingston Frontenacs at 4:00pm followed by the Mississauga Steelheads on Sunday, January 28th at 2:00pm.
