THOMAS, LARDIS & HAMARA 3-POINT NIGHTS LEAD DOGS PAST HOUNDS 6-4
SAULT STE. MARIE, ONTARIO. Taking to the ice for the fourth leg of their five-game road trip and second of three in the northern swing the Brantford Bulldogs made their only visit of the season to the GFL Memorial Gardens in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday night.
Just as the Bulldogs did a night earlier in North Bay, they jumped out to an early lead in the Soo. Nick Lardis won a board battle on the right-wing side to steal the puck away from a pair of Greyhounds and run it to the right corner for Patrick Thomas. The captain collected and delivered to Cole Brown just above the dot in the right circle to fire in his 19th of the season giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Brown kept coming in the opening frame picking up a pass in front of the Greyhounds goal and twirling a shot off the underside of the front of the crossbar, narrowly missing a multi-goal period. The pressure from the Bulldogs to Nolan Lalonde’s net paid off with the guests on the power-play at 15:40. Tomas Hamara captured the puck at the middle of the blueline and set it into the wheelhouse for Jake O’Brien in the left circle. The gifted centerman got everyone to believe he was shooting, instead turning the play into a perfect back door pass for the captain Thomas to finish off the tic-tac-goal for his 21st of the season putting the Bulldogs up 2-0. The Greyhounds were able to find some life before the period expired with a tip from Hounds forward Travis Hayes who snuck the deflected puck just inside the near post for his 12th pulling the hosts to within one at 2-1 through 20 minutes.
The middle frame was one of momentum swings with the Greyhounds going to the power-play twice early and funneling 13 total shots to David Egorov’s goal through the period. Though Egorov stood tall for 12, the Greyhounds were able to even the game through Brady R. Smith tipping a net front pass from Chase Reid off the right-wing half boards for his 5th of the season pulling the game to 2-2 at 8:19. Only 53-seconds later, the Bulldogs took the lead back. Cole Brown took down a turnover at the Brantford line and caught Nick Lardis coming off the Bulldogs bench alone ahead where the OHL’s leading goal scorer beat Nolan Lalonde under his arm for Lardis’ 43rd of the season, giving the Bulldogs back the lead at 3-2. Controversy followed late in the period as Charlie Hilton’s two-handed slash to Nick Lardis in front of the Bulldogs bench caused the star sniper to miss a shift, but he was able to return to the game, the slash went unpenalized and the period closed with the Bulldogs holding the 3-2 advantage.
The third period continued the back-and-forth style of the game, after Travis Hayes was deemed to have instigated a fight with Thomas Budnick 20-seconds into the period, the Bulldogs power-play went back to work. In a near mirror image of their first period connection, Tomas Hamara strode down the left-wing side this time before hitting Jake O’Brien in the left circle who quickly turned the puck back to the front of the net once more for Patrick Thomas to finish off his 2nd of the game & 21st of the season just 44-seconds into the period giving the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead. The Greyhounds bounced back at 5:35, Brady Martin wandered out top of the Bulldogs zone and fired a shot from just above the right circle that hit at a Bulldogs stick on the way through before darting into David Egorov’s net pulling the Greyhounds back to within one at 4-3 on Martin’s 19th of the year. Only 43-seconds after the Martin goal the Bulldogs responded, Lucas Moore held the puck for Noah Nelson on the left side who set Tomas Hamara for a one-timer in the high slot that the Czech defender put through Lalonde’s pads for his 6th of the season giving the Bulldogs a 5-3 lead at 6:19. With the Greyhounds net empty at 19:17 and skating 6-on-4 with a power-play Brady Martin set the puck to the front of the net where Noel Nordh got the last touch into the Brantford goal to give the Hounds late life on Nordh’s 11th of the year making it 5-4. Nick Lardis picked the puck loose just inside the Bulldogs line with the Hounds again skating 6-on-5 and found a way to feather the puck over a trio of Soo defenders with the puck landing in the Greyhounds net from 125-feet away with Lardis collecting his 2nd of the night and 44th of the season, securing the Bulldogs a 6-4 victory.
The Brantford Bulldogs finish their five-game road trip and three-game northern swing on Sunday, February 2nd when they visit the Sudbury Wolves at the Sudbury Community Arena for a 2:00pm start.