LEAVER CARRIES GENERALS PAST BULLDOGS 3-2
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. The Hamilton Bulldogs finished out a busy 3-in-3 weekend hosting the Oshawa Generals for the 5th matchup between the clubs on the season. The Bulldogs welcomed defenseman Carson Lloyd to the lineup for the first time since his acquisition from the London Knights.
Stuart Rolofs of the Generals opened up the scoring at 4:33, as he skated into the offensive zone and moved the puck to his forehand, creating space to the slot and changing the angle before firing it under the arm of Tristan Malboeuf to give Oshawa the 1-0 lead. Marek Vanacker found himself with two golden opportunities, the first a beautiful curl and drag release stopped by Leaver, and the second one a cross crease pass by Lawson Sherk, which Vanacker couldn’t get all of and deflected it just wide. The generals got back on the attack midway through the opening frame. At 11:10 Generals defenseman Luca Marrelli took a tour of the offensive zone, bringing the puck to the net front and finding Jordyn Ertel with his stick firmly on the ice who tipped it by Malboeuf to make it 2-0 for Oshawa. Building on their early chemistry, Patrick Thomas found Sahil Panwar across the ice who fired a one-timer on net that Leaver was able to keep out, keeping the Generals ahead 2-0 through 20 minutes.
It only took 43-seconds into the middle frame for Patrick Thomas to score his fourth goal in just three as Nick Lardis stole the puck on the left wing boards, feeding Sahil Panwar middle who faked a slap-shot and fed Thomas at the post to collect his 10th of the season making it 3-2. An Oshawa 3-on-1 opportunity at 4:37 saw the one goal lead bubble back to two, as Dylan Roobroeck passed it over to Ryder McIntyre, who sent it back to Luke Torrance wristing the puck through the five hole of Malboeuf. Goaltender Patrick Leaver continued his larceny in the middle frame, starting with denying Nick Lardis of a sure goal by quickly sliding over and sealing the puck in the butterfly. Lawson Sherk had the next opportunity receiving a beautiful tip pass from Cole Brown but Leaver was once again up to the task, snagging it just before it crossed the goal line. With Leaver turning aside 15 of 16 through 40 minutes, the Bulldogs went to the locker room down 3-1 looking to press in the final 20-minutes.
Nick Lardis gave the Bulldogs a jolt just past the halfway point of the final frame, stealing the puck from a Generals defenseman just inside the Hamilton blueline and racing in on a breakway. Lardis shifted backhand and lifted the puck top shelf over the glove of Leaver to make it a 3-2 at 10:02 setting up a sprint to the finish. Tristan Malboeuf kept the Bulldogs in it late in the third making a brilliant leg save after Ryan Gagnier intercepted an errant pass in front of the net and tried to deke far side only to have the Bulldogs netminder split out and wait out the attacker. With just seconds remaining in the game, Nick Lardis raced up the left side, launching a shot on Leaver that popped into the air behind the Oshawa goaltender and with the Bulldogs crashing the crease, Thomas Stewart was able to locate the puck and scramble it to the boards, preventing the tying goal in the dying seconds and Oshawa took the game by a final score of 3-2 despite the Bulldogs outshooting the Generals 28-19, with Patrick Leaver putting in a first-star performance.
The Bulldogs are back in action Wednesday night hosting the Guelph Storm for the first time since the 2019-20 season. The puck drops at 7:00pm at the FirstOntario Centre.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs 2022-23 Holiday Flex packages & single game tickets call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com.
