DONOVAN HAT-TRICK TAMES HOUNDS IN 10-6 BULLDOGS WIN
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. The Hamilton Bulldogs wrapped up their five game homestand on Sunday afternoon hosting the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for the first time in nearly 3 years. The game also marked the return of Mark Duarte to Hamilton and was awarded his 2022 OHL Championship ring in a pre-game ceremony.
The opening frame was a back-and-forth affair with the lead changing hands three times, all started by the Greyhounds Jordan D’Intino giving the Soo a 1-0 lead at 2:08. Hamilton quickly fought back with Avery Hayes striding down the right-wing side and banking a pass off Kirill Kudryavtsev for his 17th of the season at 4:13. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game at 5:16 as Gavin White & Braeden O’Keefe combined to get the puck to the left point where Jorian Donovan walked down to the left circle and fired a shot over Samuel Ivanov for his 5th of the year putting the Bulldogs up 2-1. The Greyhounds bounced back with the next pair as Mark Duarte tipped a puck that Tristan Malboeuf stopped but hopped right to Justin Cloutier for his 5th of the season at 8:06 followed by Tyler Savard tipping a Ryan Thompson point shot for his 6th of the season at 16:44 giving the Greyhounds a 3-2 lead. Just 35-seconds later the Bulldogs captain struck to tie things once again as Jorian Donovan found Logan Morrison for his 9th of the season to send the game to the locker room all tied up 3-3.
The second period was all Bulldogs starting with Artem Grushinkov sending Logan Morrison up ice, drawing in a pair of Greyhounds defenders, the captain dished the puck right to Patrick Thomas to record his 4th of the season at 5:32 putting the Bulldogs back on top 4-3. Hamilton extended the lead at 10:04 as Lawson Sherk found Lucas Moore at the left point, shoveling right to Jorian Donovan who ripped a shot through a crowd past Ivanov to give the Bulldogs a 5-3 lead. The captain struck once more in the middle frame flipping the puck to himself through a pair of Greyhounds defenders, taking a stride to his right and delivering a shot past Ivanov for his 2nd of the game & 10th of the season giving the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead at 16:19 that they held through 40 minutes.
Another wild frame ensued in the third beginning with the Bulldogs on the power-play at 2:56, Florian Xhekaj kicked the puck loose from a goal-mouth scrum to Logan Morrison who slid it through the pile to a wide open Avery Hayes for his 2nd of the game and 18th of the season to make it 7-3 Hamilton. The Greyhounds responded with a pair, first Landen Hookey tipped a Matthew Virgilio shot past Malboeuf at 3:31 followed by a Tyler Savard tip of a Kirill Kudryavtsev point drive at 8:10 to cut the lead to 7-5. At 10:23 Noah Van Vliet went d-to-d to Lucas Moore, springing Florian Xhekaj ahead on the left, with his first shot stopped, Xhekaj fired a shot from below the goal line that banked in on off Ivanov’s mask for his 6th of the season pushing the Bulldogs lead to 8-5. The Greyhounds cut back in on the power-play with Bryce McConnell-Barker scoring a left circle rocket off the rush at 12:55, making it an 8-6 score. That is as close as Sault Ste. Marie would come as Jorian Donovan finished off his hat-trick at 15:18 of the third from Braeden O’Keefe as the Bulldogs defender fired a left point shot off a body in front of Ivanov to give Hamilton a 9-6 lead followed by Noah Nelson scoring a shorthanded, empty net goal at 19:00 to finish off an incredible 10-6 Hamilton Bulldogs victory.
The Hamilton Bulldogs take to the road for a pair starting on Thursday, December 1st as the team travels down the QEW to the Meridian Centre to faceoff with the Niagara IceDogs for the first time this season, in a 7:00pm 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
