BULLDOGS SCORE FOUR BUT OTTAWA OFFENSE OUTPACES IN 7-4 WIN
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. The Hamilton Bulldogs saw a gutsy performance from 16-year old rookie goaltender Matteo Drobac as well as multi-point games for Arthur Kaliyev, Jan Jenik & Nathan Staios but the offensive power of the Ottawa 67’s was just too much to overcome on Sunday who had 13 different skaters record at least point in their 7-4 victory.
The start of the game for the Hamilton Bulldogs was much better from the last time the two teams met, as just 4:04 into the opening frame Arthur Kaliyev would drop the puck at the top of the left wing circle to Jan Jenik who would beat Will Cranley low blocker side for his 10th of the season to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs would nearly extend the lead as Jenik would ring the goal post short-handed. However from that point of the period the 67’s experience took over with a burst of offense, Jack Quinn would record his 10th of the season on the power-play followed by Noel Hoefenmayer scoring his 7th from Quinn at 10:18 to give the 67’s a 2-1 lead. Just 12 second later a rolling puck would find Joseph Garreffa who was able to beat Matteo Drobac on a bouncing puck to give Ottawa a 3-1 lead which they would take to the locker room after 20 minutes.
The second period followed largely the same game script as the first, with the Bulldogs trailing by a pair they would earn an early power-play that would see Nathan Staios control the puck along the blueline, feeding Arthur Kaliyev who would get a 67’s defender to bite on a fake shot and find Tag Bertuzzi on a slap pass for his 6th of the season just 5:27 into the second frame. The Bulldogs would continue to control the pace of play until a late power-play for the 67’s where Alec Belanger would find Quinn Yule with a slap pass of his own to give Yule his 1st of the year and give Ottawa the two goal lead back at 15:52. Just 38 seconds later Mitchell Hoelscher would take a feed at the side of the net from Alec Belanger and record his 12th of the season to give Ottawa a 5-2 lead which they would hold through the conclusion of the second period.
36 second into the third period the Bulldogs would claw one back as Jan Jenik would record his 2nd of the game and 11th of the year after he found the rebound to a Liam Van Loon wraparound and beat Cranley to make it 5-3. Ottawa would respond just over a minute later as Yanic Crete would spin at the right wing circle and elude Matteo Drobac to give the 67’s back the three goal lead at 1:53. At 9:24, Logan Morrison would feed Arthur Kaliyev down the left wing side who would fire a dart over Cranley’s shoulder to record his 19th goal of the season and 3rd point of the night to get the Bulldogs back to within two at 6-4 but it’s as close as Hamilton would get. Joseph Garreffa would add his 2nd of the game at 14:47 to secure a 7-4 Ottawa win.
The Hamilton Bulldogs return to action on Saturday November 9th when the Sudbury Wolves make their first visit to First Ontario Centre for a 4pm puck drop, followed by the second meeting of the season with the Niagara Ice Dogs on Sunday November 10th at First Ontario Centre at 2pm.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs 2019-20 season tickets, flex packs or single game tickets call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com
