LEENDERS STOPS THIRTY; BROWN STRIKES LATE AS DOGS DOWN FRONTS
KINGSTON, ONTARIO. Closing out the two game eastern road trip on Thanksgiving weekend, the Brantford Bulldogs carried back-to-back wins to Slush Puppie Place in Kingston for the first meeting of the season with the Frontenacs.
Ryerson Leenders was the man of the frame to open the game for the Bulldogs, stopping all 12 shots that were directed to his net in the opening 20 minutes. The finest of which came with a 3-man pileup in front of the Bulldogs goal and the puck through traffic to Tuomas Uronen streaking down the right side of the slot. As the Vegas draft pick kicked skate to stick and fired the shot, Leenders somehow got eyes through the traffic and held his post to deny the Fronts shooter. Kingston put emphasis on blocking shot in the opening period, keeping the Bulldogs to just four attempts at Mason Vaccari, with the Bulldogs best attempt coming from a Calvin Crombie steal and Patrick Thomas trying to play cross crease for Nick Lardis only to be blocked off by a diving Quinton Burns, sending the game down the tunnel in a scoreless tie.
With their goaltender slamming the door shut in the defensive zone, the Bulldogs opened the scoring at 4:06 of the middle stanza. Noah Roberts sent the puck on the right-wing side for Calvin Crombie who carried over the Kingston line and found Nick Lardis streaking on the left-wing side. With time and space in the circle, Lardis ripped his 8th of the season past Vaccari to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead. Ryerson Leenders kept up the heroics through the second period with his finest coming in a scramble in front of the Brantford net. After making the initial save, the puck was tossed back through the front and knocked towards the goal line by Matthew Soto only for Leenders from his stomach to drop his stick and reach out to grab the puck with his blocker right on the line to keep the Bulldogs ahead. Kingston would knot the game through their prolific power-play at 16:11 with Tuomas Uronen finding time and space off the left-circle to record his 2nd of the season and tie the game 1-1. Before the frame was out, Calvin Crombie banked the puck off defensive zone glass, trapping 4 Fronts attackers deep. Jake O’Brien sped to the puck attacking the right-wing side, manipulating time and space before delivering a perfect pass to Luca Testa in a 2-on-1 for Testa’s 2nd of the year and a 2-1 Bulldogs lead at 19:08. Behind 19 saves from Ryerson Leenders, the Bulldogs took the one goal lead down the tunnel after 40 minutes.
Ryerson Leenders was a wall again in the third period, denying a pair of early point-blank opportunities for Jacob Battaglia as part of his 11 third period saves. The Fronts managed to tie the game once again at 8:49 as Tyler Hopkins working to his left in the circle sent a shot through Owen Protz that dipped on Leenders evening the score. Leenders heroics continued, on a sprawling split stop on Matthew Soto to keep the game tied and continue to give the Bulldogs a chance to pull ahead. The Dogs responded to their netminders efforts with just 25 seconds to go. Owen Protz played the puck ahead on the right side for Calvin Crombie who danced past a defender and delivered the puck middle for Cole Brown to fire his 1st of the season past Vaccari putting the Bulldogs ahead for good. With Ryerson Leenders making 30 saves, the Bulldogs finished the sweep of the road trip with a 3-2 victory.
The Brantford Bulldogs return home to host the North Bay Battalion on Friday, October 18th with a 7:00pm puck drop at the Brantford Civic Centre.