DROBAC DENIES 39 AS BULLDOGS FALL 3-2
OSHAWA, ONTARIO. The Hamilton Bulldogs made a Wednesday night stop in Oshawa to meet the Generals for the final time this season. The game carried playoff implications as Hamilton entered in 6th place, three points back of the Peterborough Petes while the Generals sat 9th coming into the night, just a point back of the Sudbury Wolves for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East.
Matteo Drobac made himself the story of the game in the opening period, denying 21 Oshawa Generals shots, including a Stuart Rolofs drive from the bottom of the right circle & a Beckett Sennecke backhand that the Bulldogs netminder blockered aside while sprawling across his crease. With the Bulldogs on the penalty kill just prior to the 15-minute mark, Drobac fended off 7 shots in the two minutes to keep the game scoreless. Carrying on from the momentum provided by their goaltender the Bulldogs struck first. At 17:10, Marek Vanacker stripped the puck from a Generals defender on the left-wing half boards, guiding it to the circle where Lawson Sherk strode on to it, and ripped it under the blocking arm of Jacob Oster for his 8th of the season giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead that the visitors held to the first intermission.
Despite the heroics of their goaltender, following an incredible breakaway split stop on Dylan Roobroeck, the puck rolled back to the blueline to Nikita Parfenyuk where the Belarusian defender fired a shot through a screen past Drobac to knot the game 1-1 at 12:02. It was Jacob Oster’s turn for heroics next, denying Nick Lardis on a breakaway as the Bulldogs sharpshooter flew away from a Generals defender and took a stride left trying to toss a shot back over the netminder’s right shoulder, with Oster keeping the game tied. The Generals took advantage of a neutral turn over at 16:11 and broke away 3-on-2 with Sennecke feeding middle for Callum Ritche and quickly turning right for Stuart Rolofs who fired a shot past Drobac to give the Generals a 2-1 lead. Oshawa doubled the lead 15-seconds later as a loose puck rolled to Ryder McIntyre in the left circle and the Generals winger fired a bullet off the back bar making it a 3-1 lead at 16:26. Despite a two-man advantage late in the period for the Bulldogs, Oster continued to hold strong keeping the Generals ahead at the intermission.
Into the final frame, the goalies duel continued with Matteo Drobac denying a Ryder McIntyre breakaway with a brilliant splitting blocker stop as the forward strode in left and tried to beat Drobac right. Oster, for his part was equal to his counterpart, denying a goal mouth scramble with Cole Brown firing a shot that the hosts netminder launched out of his blue paint to deny. At 9:31 the Bulldogs drew themselves to within one as Nick Lardis took the puck in the left circle off a faceoff win, going inside out through one defender and baiting a second to drop to take away his shooting angle. As Lardis weaved his magic, he found Sahil Panwar open in front of the Generals goal where the veteran center took the pass to his tape and quickly launched it over Oster for his 18th of the season and setting up a sprint to the finish. The Bulldogs outshot the Generals 11-5 in the final frame and with the team earning a 6-on-4 opportunity late after Cole Brown was hooked making a move to the slot, they poured on the pressure, right to the final seconds with Sahil Panwar driving off the right side, through the circle and to the front of the net where Oster was able to keep his team just nosed ahead. With Matteo Drobac stopping 39 & Jacob Oster 30 at the final horn it was the Generals who skated away with a 3-2 win.
The Bulldogs return home on Friday, February 17th to open a 5-game home stand with a potential playoff preview, hosting the Barrie Colts at FirstOntario Centre with a 7:00pm puck drop.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs 2022-23 Flex packages or single game tickets call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com
