MCTAVISH’S WINNER GIVES BULLDOGS RECORD 44TH WIN
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. Coming off the 6-2 win in Peterborough Tuesday night and tying the franchise record with their 43rd win of the season, the Bulldogs looked to stand alone atop the mountain with a win on Thursday night. The Bulldogs received a pre-game boost with the returns of forwards Mark Duarte and Cole Brown while Oshawa was missing leading scorer Ty Tullio.
The first period started with a back-and-forth battle for possession, with the Generals unable to capitalize on an early man advantage. With 5 minutes left of the first period the Bulldogs picked it up to create offensive chances resulting in a goal that was later called back because of goaltender interference where Avery Hayes was deemed to have pushed the pad of Zachary Paputsakis across the Oshawa goal-line, erasing his 37th of the season. On the powerplay with 1:25 left of the first period Jan Mysak lets one rip top corner from the bumper spot for his 31st off the pass of Logan Morrison and Avery Hayes to give the Bulldogs a one-goal lead heading into the second period.
To start the second frame the Bulldogs came out strong setting the pace for the period. The Bulldogs special team units got to work this period with two back-to-back powerplays looking to bubble the lead, spending most of the powerplay in the Generals end the Bulldogs were left goalless thanks to Zachary Paputsakis’ handiwork. Coming off the penalty kill at 8:33 Ryan Stepien squeezed one by Matteo Drobac to tie the game at 1-1 as a puck bounced into the slot, a shot squeezed through Matteo Drobac that Stepien could drive into the goal. To start their third powerplay of the game Morrison ripped a shot from the hashmarks to try and get the 2nd goal but Paputsakis came out strong with a glove save to keep the Bulldogs at bay once again. While on a 5-on-3 advantage late in the second, Nathan Staios ripped a rocket passed Paputsakis’ shoulder to get his 15th of the season at 19:52 to give the Bulldogs the lead with Morrison and Mysak picking up the helpers. After 40 minutes of play the Bulldogs held a 2-1 lead and had outshot the Generals 32-6.
The Bulldogs started the final 20 minutes of play with a man advantage and looked to capitalize but the man advantage got cut short sending Ryan Winterton into the box for 2 minutes leaving both teams even with 4 on 4. At 15:01 with the Bulldogs on the power-play Mason McTavish let one loose to score his 16th of the season to extend the lead to two on a beautifully executed three-way passing play with Staios feeding Morrison to the left circle and shuttling the puck over to McTavish for the one timer. Zachary Paputsakis’ night ended due to injury on the goal but he left having posted a spectacular performance having stopped 37 of 40 Bulldogs shots. With almost 2 minutes left the Generals wouldn’t give up and Matthew Buckley popped one through Drobac to cut the Bulldogs lead to one goal. That is as close as the Generals would get as the Bulldogs made Hamilton hockey history collecting their 44th victory of the season with a 3-2 final.
The Hamilton Bulldogs are headed across the border to face the Erie Otters for a 7:00 p.m. game at the Erie Insurance Arena.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs 2021-22 season tickets, flex packs or single game tickets call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com
