O’BRIEN TAKES SHARE OF RECORD AS DROBAC’S DOGS SHUTOUT ATTACK 3-0
BRANTFORD, ONTARIO. The Bulldogs hit the weekend stretch of their 4-in-6 hosting the Owen Sound Attack while unveiling the club’s new third jersey on Friday infront of a packed Civic Centre crowd. The Friday night meeting marked the Attack’s first and only visit to the Brantford Civic Center for the 2023-24 season.
The Bulldogs welcomed the return of Noah Roberts to the lineup after serving a 2-game suspension, adding needed experience on the blueline. The Bulldogs set the tone early as Owen Sound’s Antonio Tersigni’s rushed to the Bulldogs crease off the right wing side, but was met by a thunderous Owen Protz check which allowed Matteo Drobac to make an easy save. After Ethan Burroughs caught Owen Protz with a high finish to a check, the Bulldogs hit the power-play for the first time. Tremendous opportunities for Cole Brown & Zakary Lavoie followed but Carter George, who entered the game leading the OHL in save percentage, denied both Bulldogs gunners. Not to be outdone, Matteo Drobac stood tall on the 11 shots he faced in the opening frame with one his finest denying a Jackson Stewart opportunity in tight to send a fast, physical game down the tunnel scoreless through 20 minutes.
The Bulldogs hopped on the power-play early in the second period, with excellent puck movement around the perimeter, Patrick Thomas launched a long shot through a moving Florian Xhekaj screen, but once again Carter George was there with a glove save to keep the game scoreless. Colby Barlow turned the other way short-handed entering the zone on a 2-on-1 opportunity that led to Marek Vanacker hooking down Servac Petrovsky to deny a scoring chance resulting in a 4-on-4 and Owen Sound reciving their first power-play. Thanks to some hard work from Patrick Thomas & Noah Nelson on the kill, the vaunted Attack power-play was never able to get set up in the Bulldogs zone and the game returned to even & full strength. At 14:08, the Bulldogs broke the ice as Noah Roberts knocked the puck forward to Adrian Rebelo who entered the Attack zone and set the puck to Florian Xhekaj charging through the right circle. In stride, Xhekaj ripped a perfectly placed shot over the pad and under the arm of George to record his 26th of the season & 7th in the last 5 games to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead they took to the locker room through 40 minutes.
The Bulldogs got back on the power-play quickly in the final frame with Jackson Stewart being nabbed for cross-checking at 3:53 and wasted no time bubbling their lead. At 4:01, Jake O’Brien picked out the puck from Florian Xhekaj’s hard work in the left corner and hit a perfect pass across the ice from the corner to Zakary Lavoie who was in stride off the right point to score his 23rd of the season. With the assist, Jake O’Brien reached 48 points on the season, tying the Bulldogs franchise rookie scoring record, held by 2018 OHL Champion Arthur Kaliyev, who scored 48 points in the 2017-18 season. With Owen Sound on the power-play shortly after the Bulldogs goal Ben Bujold was sent away short-handed by Lawson Sherk, but Carter George turned the Bulldogs center aside. At the other end, Matteo Drobac continued to hold strong, making a stick save on Landon Hookey and a great pad stop to kick aside a Servac Petrovsky offering. Right after the game went back to even & full, Zakary Lavoie broke away from the pack looking to score his 2nd of the game on a breakaway but his drive from the slot dented the goal post keeping the game at 2-0 for the Bulldogs. Before the game was out, the Dogs added one more as Lucas Moore slid the puck along to Ben Bujold who sprang Lawson Sherk & Adrian Rebelo on a 2-on-1 with Sherk tossing the puck across the front of the net and deflecting off the stick of Konnor Smith and in for Sherk’s 10th of the season 16:02, securing a 24-save 3-0 shutout win for Matteo Drobac and the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs continue their run of 4 games in 6 nights and head on the road on Sunday, February 18th to take on the Niagara Ice Dogs at the Meridian Centre with a 2:00pm puck drop.
