HAMILTON, ONTARIO. In battle of Eastern Conference titans, the Hamilton Bulldogs met the Mississauga Steelheads for the second time in four days on Tuesday night, with the Steelheads playing host this time and the Bulldogs riding a 5-game winning streak. Logan Morrison bolstered the Bulldogs lineup further, returning after a 5-game absence.
The Bulldogs struck early, at 5:00, as the returning Morrison got the puck to Gavin White at the right point his shot was stopped by Steelheads goaltender Roman Basran but Ryan Humphrey was stationed on the doorstep to pick up the puck and dance around Basran, tucking the puck in for his 11th of the season, giving the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead. Hamilton continued to dominate the opening frame, bombarding the Mississauga net with shots and the persistence would pay off. Jan Mysak would get the puck to Cole Brown and the Bulldogs would form an attacking triangle across the Mississauga blue line with Brown & Ryan Winterton running a give and go to the left wing side of Basran, with Brown cashing his 7th of the season at 17:21. The Bulldogs finished out the opening frame holding a 2-0 lead and an 18-3 edge in shots.
The second period would be a closer frame with Mississauga looking to battle back but Marco Costantini would wall off the Hamilton goal, including a spectacular glove stop along the Bulldogs goal line robbing the Steelheads of a wide open net. With time ticking away in the second period and the Bulldogs on the power-play, they would strike again. Logan Morrison from the top of the left circle would set the puck on a tee for a Nathan Staios blast that Jan Mysak would tip past Basran at 17:29 giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes.
Mississauga mounted a charge in the third period, as Zander Veccia got the Steelheads on the board at 6:15, breaking Marco Costantini’s shutout streak against the Steelheads at 106:45. The Steelheads would get one closer at 11:45 on the power play as a scramble in front spilled the puck out to Ty Collins to make it 3-2 and tighten the game right up for the latter half of the third period. With 10.4 seconds left and the Mississauga net empty, Logan Morrison won a key draw that the Bulldogs scrambled around the back of their net, Mark Duarte cleared the puck the full 200-feet and Avery Hayes would beat out Ethan Del Mastro to negate icing and hit the empty net for his 23rd of the season at 19:59 assuring the Bulldogs a 4-2 victory, their 6th in a row.