BULLDOGS THIRD PERIOD PUSH FALLS SHORT AGAINST PETES
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. The Hamilton Bulldogs opened the 2023 portion of the schedule on Tuesday night hosting the Peterborough Petes with newly acquired forward Luca Testa making his Bulldogs debut.
The Petes got off to a fast start just 1:07 into the period with Sahil Panwar banking a shot off Tristan Malboeuf’s pad that snuck inside the post to give the Petes a 1-0 lead. Peterborough extended the lead at 5:02 as Donovan McCoy’s left point shot deflected off Ranvir Gill-Shane past Malboeuf to give the Petes a 2-0 lead on McCoy’s first in the Ontario Hockey League. The Bulldogs got right back into the game at 14:32 as Logan Morrison tossed the puck into the offensive zone, where Avery Hayes whipped it around back of Michael Simpson’s goal to Patrick Thomas who attacked the left circle and paused dropping the puck for Hayes who had swung around the goal and fired a shot past Simpson for his 27th of the season at 14:32, cutting the Petes lead to 2-1 through 20 minutes of play.
Tristan Malboeuf was spectacular to open the second period, with the Bulldogs shorthanded, the netminder turned aside an incredible sequence stopping an initial point-blank shot from the slot before diving out from his crease and stealing what looked to be a certain goal from J.R. Avon. Shortly after with the Petes pressing once more, the Bulldogs goaltender jammed pad to post as he split back to take an open side away from Tucker Robertson and keep the Bulldogs firmly in the game. At 7:03, the Petes would crack the armor as J.R. Avon worked a short-handed break around Jorian Donovan, cutting to the net and sliding a backhand five-hole to give the Petes a 3-1 lead. The Bulldogs put on a press to the Peterborough goal, but Michael Simpson turned aside all 12 he faced in the middle frame and before it was out Samuel Mayer beat the buzzer by a tenth of a second to give the Petes a 4-1 through two periods.
Sahil Panwar opened the third period with his 2nd of the game and 10th of the season, batting a puck out of the air after a Tristan Malboeuf stop and into the Hamilton net to give the Petes a 5-1 lead at 1:15. The Bulldogs got on the comeback trail at 2:45, after Artem Grushnikov’s left point shot was blocked on the way to the net, Marek Vanacker corralled a loose puck through the skates of a Petes defender and launched a left-circle shot over Michael Simpson’s shoulder to get the Bulldogs back in the game on his 2nd of the season. At 8:20, Artem Grushnikov hammered a slap-shot from the left point off a perfect set from Avery Hayes that blew past Michael Simpson for his 5th of the year and 2nd point of the game to cut the Peterborough lead to 5-3. With a furious press down the stretch, Michael Simpson had to be sharp, walling off attempts from Avery Hayes off a Luca Testa slot set-up and Logan Morrison working down the right side to keep the visitors in front. Despite a late 5-on-3 the Bulldogs weren’t able to pull any closer, as an Avery Hayes buzzer beater attempt was ruled to have gone in after time expired leaving the Petes with a 5-3 win.
The Hamilton Bulldogs will travel to London on Friday night for their first visit to Budwiser Gardens since the 2019-20 season as they visit the London Knights with a 7:00pm puck drop.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs Holiday Flex packages or single-game tickets call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com.
