MORRISON SETS FRANCHISE RECORD IN SCHOOL DAY DEFEAT
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. In the second School Day Game of the season on Wednesday morning in front of 8,732 screaming school kids, the Hamilton Bulldogs hosted the Mississauga Steelheads in the team’s second clash in just five days.
The Steelheads hopped on the board early while on the power-play as Ethan Del Mastro’s point shot was denied by goaltender Tristan Malboeuf but Owen Beck was on the door step to knock home his 16th of the season, just 48-seconds into the game. The Bulldogs offense got going at 2:04 as Gavin White sent Masen Wray out of the zone to find Noah Nelson streaking ahead, from the left-wing boards, the left shot Nelson fired a shot through Ryerson Leenders for his 2nd of the season, tying the game 1-1. At 3:32, continued Bulldogs pressure paid off as Adrian Rebelo moved the puck to the left for Lawson Sherk who left the puck at the top of the circle for a returning Ryan Humphrey to fire over Leenders glove, scoring his 3rd of the season and giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. History was made at 12:54 with the Bulldogs on the power-play as Gavin White slide the puck to the right for Logan Morrison who whipped a perfect pass across the ice to Avery Hayes for his 21st goal of the season. With the assist, Logan Morrison moved past Matt Strome to claim the franchise record for assists in a career with 133 (and counting). Before the period was out Zachary Lavoie would sneak a slot shot through the pads of Malboeuf to get the Steelheads back to 3-2 heading to the locker room. During the opening period, after Mason Zebeski caught Lucas Moore with a late hit, a line scrum ensued with the resulting penalties leaving the Bulldogs without Ryan Humphrey & Steelheads without Kasper Larsen for the rest of the game.
Mississauga moved quickly in the second period to get control of the game through James Hardie, with goals at 1:00 from Luke Misa on a 2-on-1 and 5:52 from Owen Beck, giving the Steelheads a 4-3 lead. After a pair of controversial hits from Charlie Callaghan, one from the back side on Adrian Rebelo early in the period and another to the head of Masen Wray late in the period, ended up with the Bulldogs killing off a lengthy 5-on-3, the Hamilton power-play had a chance to get back to work. With just 6 players seated on the Bulldogs bench due to injury and penalty, the top unit for the Bulldogs responded. In a near mirror image of their first period strike, Gavin White turned the puck from the middle to the right for Logan Morrison, making a near impossible cross-seam pass back to Avery Hayes on the left, Hayes cashed his 2nd of the game and 22nd of the season, levelling the game 4-4 at 17:54.
The third period was a display for the defenses, with the shorthanded Bulldogs, missing both Lucas Moore & Artem Grushnikov due to instigator penalties, in response to the Callaghan second period hits, Adrian Rebelo dropped back to the blueline to help his team and keep the game level. Hamilton managed to kill off a high sticking double minor to Lawson Sherk in the early stages of the period, while the Steelheads responded with a big kill of their just past the midway point of the period with Callaghan in the box for interference. Three periods wouldn’t be enough with the teams knotted 4-4 requiring an overtime frame. After Mississauga captured the opening draw, Luca DelBelBelluz carried the puck middle, playing off to James Hardie who fired across his body to complete his hat-trick and give the Steelheads a 5-4 win.
The Bulldogs return to the ice on Saturday, December 10th, hosting an the annual Teddy Toss Game, in an OHL Finals rematch with the Windsor Spitfires starting at 4:00pm at FirstOntario Centre.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs 2022-23 Holiday Flex packages call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com
