The Kingston Frontenacs (15-12-1-1) won a third consecutive road game with a 5-1 victory versus the Hamilton Bulldogs (12-12-2-0) on Sunday afternoon in Hamilton, wrapping up a three-game road trip to sit one point ahead of Peterborough for second place in the East Division standings. First-star Chris Thibodeau scored for the second straight game with his first career hattrick, and rookie Adam Cavallin scored his second of the season against Hamilton, highlighting the victory and improving the Fronts road record to 8-8-1-1. Jacob Battaglia (1G,1A), Gabriel Frasca (2A) and third star Mitchell Brooks (2A) each had two points in the second win in two games over their East Division foes, with a rematch set for Friday, Dec 15 in Kingston.
Colorado Avalanche drafted Ivan Zhigalov earned second-star status back in the Kingston crease after Masson Vaccari backstopped the Fronts to a win on Saturday night in Erie, earning his ninth win on the season with a second-star performance. The Bulldogs countered with Tristan Malboeuf…
Kingston had its first of three first-period powerplays thwarted midway through a scoreless opening half of the opening frame before two goals in 38 seconds opened up an early multi-goal lead. It was 1-0 at 10:05 when Adam Cavalllin (4), with his second of the season against the Bulldogs, finished off a hardworking shift and play, with Jacob Battaglia and Mitchell Brooks assisting on the nice forecheck. The game-opening goal gave Cavallin and Battaglia points in consecutive games and gave Kingston a lead they never relinquished.
The quick 2-0 strike came when a ripped shot from the right side, on a quick snipe by Paul Ludwinski, was tipped past Malboeuf by Chris Thibodeau (5) at 10:43 for his first of three tallies. Ludwisnki extended a point streak to four games (2G,2A) with a helper, with Matthew Soto assisting Thibodeau in setting a new career goal high with the eventual game-winner. Soto’s assist set a new career high in points (26) in just his 28th game of the season.
Both teams went scoreless on nine combined penalties, with all goals coming five-on-five except Kingston’s late empty-net tally. The Bulldogs made it 2-1 just after killing a second Frontenacs powerplay late in the first after Zhigalov was beaten on a high shot by Logan Marrison (16), with Kingston ahead 13-7 on the shot clock. The second-overall point leader in the OHL extended a point streak to 16 games with the goal at 16:49 with Cole Brown assisting.
A third penalty to Hamilton with 45 seconds remaining in the opening twenty minutes would carry over to the middle frame as the teams headed to first intermission with a 2-1 Frontenacs lead.
At 3:50 of the middle frame, Battaglia (4) got his second point of the night, making it 3-1 after topping off a great setup pass by Brooks to regain the early two-goal lead. Brooks second assist gave him a first-career multi-point game on the only goal of the middle stanza. The Frontenacs were called for three successive penalties to reverse the result of the opening period in the second but held off the Hamilton powerplay.
Kingston added a pair in the final period to round out the 5-1 score as Thibodeau polished off the hattrick with both tallies, including an empty netter. It was 4-1 when Thibodeau finished off a rush by Quinton Burns burying a rebound from the slot. Gabriel Frasca earned an assist with Burns on the play at 12:05 of the third.
The final 5-1 tally was into the empty net at 18:55, giving Thibodeau his third of the game with team points-leader Francesco Arcuri and Frasca, with his second point of the game, getting the assists. The Black and Gold improved to 9-2-1-0 when leading after two periods with the win.
Scorers:
KGN: Cavallin (4), Thibodeau (5,6,7), Battaglia (4)
HAM: Morrison (16)
Powerplays:
KGN: (0/5)
HAM: (0/4)
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