THOMAS LEADS THE WAY IN BULLDOGS 6-3 WIN IN NORTH BAY
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. The Bulldogs got off to a tremendous start, just 1:20 into the opening frame the line of Mason McTavish, Ryan Winterton & Patrick Thomas hounded the puck in the North Bay not letting it out. Off the hard work of the forward line, the puck rolled back to Nathan Staios making a great fake to carry to the top of the left circle and rifle a shot past Joe Vrbetic for his 14th of the season giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage. Both teams had their opportunity with special teams, the Bulldogs 0-for-2 on the power-play while North Bay went 0-for-1. Before the frame was out, Nathan Staios dented the post with a left point shot while Bulldogs starting goalie turned away a golden opportunity from the slot for Mitchell Russell, as part of the 4 he turned aside in the opening period as the Bulldogs carried the 1-0 lead to the intermission.
North Bay knotted the game quickly into the second period with Tnias Mathurin cashing a top of the left circle shot at 1:09 but the Bulldogs quickly turned the game back to their advantage. With the Bulldogs buzzing the goal of Joe Vrbetic, Arber Xhekaj captured the puck in behind the goal, feeding a pass that bounced onto the stick of Logan Morrison, swing a shot from the left circle that eluded Joe Vrbetic giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead at 10:07 on Morrison’s 31st of the season. With the second period ticking away, Ryan Winterton found Patrick Thomas across the Battalion blueline, dropping the puck to Mason McTavish who fired a shot past Vrbetic for his 14th of the year at 17:31, a lead the Bulldogs held through 40 minutes.
The offence really picked up in the 3rd period with the Battalion desperate for the two points, Kyle MacDonald collected his 34th of the season, drawing North Bay to within one at 5:31 with the home side pushing. Once again the McTavish, Winterton, Thomas combination would take all the air out of the building, first at 9:49, Patrick Thomas found the puck on a goal mouth scramble after McTavish and Winterton had tried, Thomas hit the back of the net for his 4th of the year and a 4-2 Bulldogs lead. Back for more, Mason McTavish fed the puck to Ryan Winterton who carried through the right wing circle, danced past a wall of defenders and backhanded the puck past Vrbetic for his 16th of the season at 12:15 to make it 5-2. North Bay got one back from Kyle Jackson at 17:35 but its as close as North Bay could climb. With Vrbetic on the bench, Thomas moved the puck to Diaco, onto Sherk and into the empty net for his 10th of the season, securing a 6-3 Hamilton Bulldogs victory on the back of 4 points from rookie Patrick Thomas.
The Hamilton Bulldogs return to action on Friday, March 25th taking on the Sudbury Wolves in the 6th of an 8 game road trip at the Sudbury Community Arena with a 7:00pm start.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs 2021-22 season tickets, flex packs or single game tickets call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com
