MALBOEUF LEADS BULLDOGS TO IMPRESSIVE 4-1 VICTORY
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. The Hamilton Bulldogs were back in action Friday night hosting the Central Division leading North Bay Battalion for their second matchup of the season. The game was centered around a battle of young goaltenders with the Battalion’s Mike McIvor making his OHL debut against Tristan Malboeuf making his second start of the season for Hamilton.
The opening frame featured an early parade to the penalty box with multiple penalties on both sides. Rookie goaltender Mike McIvor looked strong in the first few minutes of his OHL career, denying Avery Hayes of a great net front opportunity on the man advantage. Shortly after North Bay killed off the first penalty of the game, Bulldogs defenseman Artem Grushnikov got called for a hook and took his turn in the box. Malboeuf stood strong in his crease making a desperation pad save stretching out his leg to keep the puck out. After two more powerplay attempts, one for each side, the game remained scoreless with McIvor and Malboeuf holding the doors shut. Late in the first period Gavin White broke ahead skating end to end and cut to the outside of the right hashmarks and threw a hard low shot on net that fooled McIvor to make it 1-0 for the Bulldogs at 19:29 for his 3rd of the season with Logan Morrison picking up the assist and giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes.
The middle frame began with Malboeuf making another outstanding pad save, splitting post to post, keeping the Bulldogs out ahead. Later in the period, the Bulldogs top line kept their chemistry red hot and trapped North Bay in their zone, piling on multiple chances and finally capitalizing late in the shift with the Bulldogs captain Logan Morrison whipping a pass from the right-wing boards to set up a wide-open Avery Hayes in front who clapped it past McIvor for his team leading 15th of the season at 11:12 with Jorian Donovan collecting the secondary assist. It didn’t take the Battalion long to respond however, as Justin Ertel was able to beat the Dogs defense to a juicy rebound at the left half boards and fire a shot past a sprawled Malboeuf to cut Hamilton’s lead in half at 15:22. The Battalion thought they had tied the game shortly after, but the goal was called back as Owen Van Steensel was deemed to have deflected the puck with a high stick off an Alexander Lukin point shot. With Tristan Malboeuf stopping 20 of 21 through 40 minutes the Bulldogs exited the period holding a 2-1 lead.
Malboeuf and McIvor continued to be the stories of the night through the final frame, with each goaltender stopping every shot they were tasked with. Even a third period Bulldogs power-play wouldn’t be enough to bulge the lead with McIvor shutting the door and keeping his team in the game. As time ticked away, the Battalion called McIvor to the bench but after a Bulldogs faceoff win in the left circle, Jorian Donovan was able to scramble the puck loose, feeding onto Avery Hayes and finally Logan Morrison who hit the empty net at 18:21 to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead on his 8th of the season. North Bay pushed their chips into the middle of the table once more, but came up empty as at 19:53, Lucas Moore worked the puck ahead to Masen Wray who fed onto Avery Hayes, hitting the empty net for his 2nd of the game and 16th of the season, securing the Bulldogs win along with 27 saves from Tristan Malboeuf who picked up his second win of the season in just his second start.
The Bulldogs are back in action this Sunday afternoon welcoming back 2022 champion Mark Duarte and the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds for an afternoon affair, with the puck dropping at 2:00pm at the FirstOntario Centre.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs Holiday Flex packages or single game tickets call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com
