OA’S HONOURED AS BULLDOGS END SEASON WITH 7-2 VICTORY  

OA’S HONOURED AS BULLDOGS END SEASON WITH 7-2 VICTORY  

BRANTFORD, ONTARIO. Finishing out the regular season with Fan Appreciation Day, the Brantford Bulldogs played host to the Ottawa 67’s on Sunday afternoon with a different looking lineup from the one that clinched the OHL’s East Division and top seed in the Eastern Conference on Sunday afternoon.

Prior the game, the Bulldogs opened the BFD Outdoor District in front of the Brantford Civic Centre for the very first time with fans packing in the new feature for a party atmosphere. The festivities continued with ceremonies honouring Dr. David Robinson, the Bulldogs Team Doctor for 25 years with the team and all four Bulldogs OA’s, Thomas Budnick, Tomas Hamara, Ben Bujold & captain Patrick Thomas. The pre-game concluded with multi-award-winning Canadian country music star Brett Kissel singing the national anthem.

The Bulldogs began the game without Ryerson Leenders, Tomas Hamara, Adam Jiricek, Nick Lardis, Jake O’Brien & Patrick Thomas in uniform as they set for the playoffs while Luca Testa & Josh Avery returned from extended injury absences and Luca Diplacido made his OHL debut on the Bulldogs blueline after signing early on Sunday. It didn’t take long for the newest Bulldogs to make his impact felt, at 8:21 of the opening frame, Diplacido sprinted to the right point along the offensive blueline to hold in a clearing attempt, feeding to the front of the net for Braeden O’Keefe who quickly turned the puck to Daniel Chen. Chen’s first effort was denied by Colin MacKenzie but the towering right winger stuck with it, collecting his rebound and lifting it over the sprawled Ottawa goaltender to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead on his 2^nd of the season, earning Luca Diplacido his first OHL point in the process. The 67’s answered back at 12:56 with Matthew Mayich entering on the right-wing side, dropping the puck to the top of the circle for Filip Ekberg who strode towards the slot sending a shot off the skate of a Bulldogs defenseman and tying the game 1-1 on his 16^th of the season. With the Bulldogs shorthanded at 19:11, Owen Protz floated a perfect pass out of the zone to Nik Rossetto who quickly shifted the puck for Noah Nelson on the left in a 2-on-1. Nelson delivered a saucer pass right to Rossetto’s tape and the rookie forward struck the back bar for his 8^th of the season to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead through 20-minutes.

The Bulldogs broke the game open in the middle frame, just 22-seconds into the period, Calvin Crombie fed the puck for Dylan Tsherna at the goalmouth with Tsherna getting it through the pile for Noah Nelson to knock in for his 9^th of the season and a 3-1 lead. The Bulldogs “grind line” continued their hard work at 6:21 with Lucas Moore playing across the zone for Calvin Crombie who twisted it across the crease for Dylan Tsherna who managed to fight loose from a check and shovel over the goal line for his 4^th of the season and a 4-1 Bulldogs lead. David Egorov was next to make an impact, denying a 67’s 2-on-0 to keep the three-goal lead and his mates would add to it for him. At 15:31, Luca Diplacido set the puck forward in the defensive zone for Daniel Chen who found Braeden O’Keefe skating away up the left-wing side. O’Keefe crossed through the slot, faking wide to open up Colin MacKenzie and laying it through the five-hole for his 1^st of the season to give the Bulldogs a 5-1 lead. One more for the hosts at 17:50 with Dylan Tsherna feeding Noah Nelson in the high slot who found Niko Krmpotic off the left point. Krmpotic fired through a crowd in front to record his 2^nd goal of the season, scoring in back-to-back games and giving the Bulldogs a 6-1 lead. Ottawa got one back late in the frame with rookie Kohyn Eshkawkogan snapping a slot drive past Egorov at 19:13 but the Bulldogs hit the intermission holding a 6-2 lead.

A penalty filled third period followed with several misconducts being handed out and Daniel Chen in a fight with Kaleb Dietsch completed his “Gordie Howe Hat-Trick”. The only offense in the frame came at 19:11 with Owen Protz feeding on the right side for Layne Gallacher who sent Nikolas Rossetto down the slot to rifle home his 2^nd of the game and 9^th of the season, finishing off a 7-2 Bulldogs victory.

The Brantford Bulldogs will host the North Bay Battalion in Game 1 of their first round OHL playoff series on Friday night, March 28^th with a 7:00pm puck drop.