THOMAS RACKS UP 5 POINTS; ROBERTS FINISHES OFF 6-3 WIN IN OTTAWA
BRANTFORD, ONTARIO. The Brantford Bulldogs opened a two-game Thanksgiving weekend road trip to the east on Friday night, meeting the Ottawa 67’s for the first time in the 2024-25 season at TD Place Arena. It was a homecoming for several Bulldogs with Friday’s starting goaltender David Egorov, defensemen Owen Protz & Ben Radley as well as forwards Zakary Lavoie & Parker Holmes all hailing from the Ottawa area, getting to play in front of family and friends.
The opening frame saw the 67’s get on the board first with Matthew Mayich circling the back of the Bulldogs net and delivering the puck to the front of the net where Filip Ekberg chipped it into the air where the puck knuckled over David Egorov’s shoulder and into the Bulldogs net to give the 67’s a 1-0 lead at 5:10. The top line for the Bulldogs went right back to work, picking up where they left off on Wednesday night with Patrick Thomas moving the puck to the right side for Calvin Crombie who drew a pair of Ottawa defenders to him before twisting the wrists to find Nick Lardis through the middle of the ice. Lardis turned backhand, beating the outstretched leg of Collin MacKenzie for his 6th of the season at 9:35 tying the game 1-1. Before the frame was out, the 67’s took the lead back as a Matthew Mayich shot was deflected in front of David Egorov to give the hosts a 2-1 lead 14:09 that they would take down the tunnel after 20 minutes.
The Ottawa 67’s jumped out to a two-goal lead at 7:03 as Nic Whitehead navigated along the Bulldogs blueline, guiding the puck for Matthew Mayich on the left side who’s shot from the circle whistled over Egorov shoulder to give the 67’s the 3-1 advantage. The Bulldogs got back into the game with the top line striking again. Patrick Thomas sent a seem pass from the bottom of the right circle to the left point for Noah Roberts. The defenceman’s shot was turned away by MacKenzie but the rebound bounced for Calvin Crombie to record his 1st of the season at 8:42. After Parker Holmes stepped in to defend his teammates after a Matthew Mayich hit on Dylan Tsherna and a successful Bulldogs penalty kill, the Bulldogs power-play went to work. After a series of chances 5-on-3, Jake O’Brien set Luca Testa for a shot in the 5-on-4 portion, with Zakary Lavoie on the doorstep to battle the puck over the goal line for his 2nd of the season at 16:03 tying the game 3-3. The Bulldogs top line wasn’t done yet, Calvin Crombie attacking on the right fed Nick Lardis for a left circle drive, Patrick Thomas collected the rebound and tried to feed the front of the net for Lardis once more with the puck deflecting off Brady Horner’s skate and into the Ottawa goal, giving the Bulldogs their first lead of the game 4-3 at 18:46.
The Bulldogs offensive outburst continued into the final frame as Calvin Crombie and Patrick Thomas again combined to set Nick Lardis for his 2nd of the game & 7th of the season at 3:25, giving the Bulldogs a 5-3 lead. David Egorov turned aside all 15 Ottawa shots he faced in the final frame, turning another strong performance, stopping 30 of 33 overall. With 2:14 to go, the Bulldogs got a moment a long time coming, with the Ottawa net empty, Patrick Thomas won the draw back to Noah Roberts who launched the puck 195-plus feet down the rink and into the net for his 1st goal in the OHL to secure a 6-3 Bulldogs victory.
The Brantford Bulldogs finish off their two-game road trip on Saturday afternoon, October 12th with a 4:00pm puck drop at Slush Puppie Place in Kingston for the first meeting of the season with the Frontenacs.