DOGS CAUGHT IN STORM, DROP 5-4 SHOOTOUT DECISION
BRANTFORD, ONTARIO. Sandwiched in between a trio of road games the Brantford Bulldogs hosted the Guelph Storm on Wednesday night for the Western Conference powerhouse’s only trip of the season to Brantford.
The Bulldogs poured on the pressure in the opening period, firing 12-shots to the goal of Brayden Gillespie while owning a significant territorial advantage. It took 19:36 for the Storm netminder to crack under the pressure, as Jorian Donovan galloped up the ice dealing the puck to his right over the Guelph blueline to Calvin Crombie. As Crombie dusted it off, he set it on a tee to the top of the slot for Nick Lardis to skate onto and fire home his 9th of the season, giving the Dogs the 1-0 lead through the opening frame.
A subdued opening 20-minutes was a far cry from the frantic second act. On the power-play at 3:25, Calvin Crombie won the puck on the end boards and set Cole Brown in the left circle for a drive. Brayden Gillespie parried the shot away but the rebound was handled through Gillespie and another Storm defender by Luca Testa who tapped into the yawning cage for his 5th of the season giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. Testa went from finisher to provider at 6:20, as Noah Nelson found him across the offensive zone. Testa turned back in the right circle and laid a perfect pass for Jorian Donovan to skate into and hammer past Gillespie for his 3rd of the season giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. Donovan wasn’t done in the frame, at 7:13 the Bulldogs defenseman flew into the Guelph zone and seeing Patrick Thomas work the puck loose to Marek Vanacker strode into open space where Vanacker found him in the right circle. Donovan’s first chance was denied but the follow up bested Gillespie for his 4th of the season and 2nd of the game giving the Bulldogs a then commanding 4-0 lead. Guelph began to claw their way back into the game during a 4-on-4 at 13:47 with Braeden Bowman striking off the right wing past David Egorov, who had seen just 4 shots against to that point and none since the end of the first period, getting the Storm to within three. Still in the 4-on-4, Max Namestnikov fired a shot past Egorov off the left at 15:45 cutting the lead down to 4-2. Before the period was out and with captain Lawson Sherk in the penalty box on a very questionable slashing call, the Storm won an offensive zone draw to Bowman who fired a shot under the back bar for his 2nd of the game at 19:40 pulling the visitors to within a goal through 40 minutes.
The final frame opened with the Storm back on the man advantage and once again made it pay off with Jett Luchanko finding Max Namestnikov down low, lifting a shot over Egorov for his 2nd of the game at 2:17 and tying the game 4-4. Matteo Drobac entered the game to relieve Egorov at that point. Drobac immediately came up large, turning aside a pair of odd man opportunities including denying Braeden Bowman first with a split spot and then with a lunging blocker save to keep the game tied. The Bulldogs again poured pressure on late in the third period, sending 37 shots to Brayden Gillespie’s goal through regulation only for the Storm netminder to force the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Gillespie once again came up massive. With the Bulldogs on the power-play, Nick Lardis lasered a shot from the right circle that leaked through Gillespie only to have the Guelph goalie reach back and again keep the game even. Off to the shootout, only one shooter found the back of the net as Jett Luchanko with a brilliant move gave the Storm the advantage in the 2nd round. The Bulldogs final shooter, Jorian Donovan, made a brilliant move to his forehand but Gillespie once again with a touch of the specatular turned backwards and brilliantly denied the final attempt, earning the Storm the 2nd point in a wild 5-4 finish.
The Brantford Bulldogs return to action on Friday night at Budwiser Gardens in London for the teams only visit of the season to meet the Knights with puck drop at 7:30.