LARDIS SETS BULLDOGS SINGLE SEASON SCORING RECORD IN 5-1 WIN
OTTAWA, ONTARIO. Closing out their three-game eastern road swing, the Bulldogs met the Ottawa 67’s for the last time on the season at TD Place Arena on Sunday afternoon looking to rebound from a rare loss, of late, on Friday night in Kingston.
The Bulldogs got the exact start they were looking for just 25-seconds into the game when Tomas Hamara sent Cole Brown up the left-wing side in a 2-on-1 with Nick Lardis. Driving through the left circle, Brown delivered a perfect pass across the front of the 67’s goal for the CHL’s leading scorer to hammer home his 61st of the season and collect his 100th point of the season to become just the 3rd Bulldog in franchise history to hit the century mark joining Arthur Kaliyev and Logan Morrison in the “century club”. Ryerson Leenders continued his strong work of late, and it was highlighted in making a tremendous stop on a Chris Barlas penalty shot at 5:34 as part of his 9 total stops in the opening frame. The Bulldogs ended the first period the way they started, this time on the power-play as Jake O’Brien dropped the puck below the goal line on the right side for Cole Brown who quickly found Nick Lardis in the right circle to beat Collin MacKenzie low for his 2nd of the game and 62nd of the season to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.
The second period was played to more of a defensive style with the teams each garnering significant puck possession time but mainly to the outside helping both Ryerson Leenders & Colin MacKenzie to keep the frame relatively quiet. Leenders best stop came on a Nic Whitehead breakaway where the 67’s forward tried to one the puck past the pad but was denied by the Bulldogs netminder as part of seven saves through the period. The Bulldogs extended their lead in the middle period on the power-play at 10:13 with Nick Lardis spinning the puck on the right-wing side, back to Lucas Moore whose drive from the middle of the blueline was denied by MacKenzie but the rebound fell to Patrick Thomas to bat in his 24th of the season and give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. With his assist on the goal, Nick Lardis recorded his 102nd point of the season, tying the Bulldogs single-season franchise record set by Arthur Kaliyev in the 2018-19 season.
History was made in the final frame, at 11:59 when Ben Radley laid the puck deep in the offensive zone for Patrick Thomas who pulled it to the front of the Ottawa net. Leaping onto the bouncing puck, Nick Lardis bolted in his 63rd goal of the season to complete his 7th hat-trick and set the Bulldogs single-season record for points with 103 on the year. Ryerson Leenders’ shutout bid made it down to 18:46 when Zach Houben stole the puck from below the goal line in the Bulldogs zone and set it for a Chris Barlas one-timer to get the 67’s on the board at 4-1. Before the final horn sounded, Owen Protz tossed the puck on the right-wing side for Daniel Chen who moved it on ahead for Josh Avery. Racing down the right-wing side, Avery turned to his backhand and tossed a shot over MacKenzie’s glove and under the crossbar for his 9th of the season, giving the Bulldogs a 5-1 advantage at 19:41 they saw out to the end of the game.
The Brantford Bulldogs return to action on Friday night, February 28th, hosting the Oshawa Generals in a potential battle for top spot in the Eastern Conference at the Brantford Civic Centre with a 7:00pm start time.
