HAMILTON, ONTARIO. It was a sense of deja vu for the Hamilton Bulldogs and Ottawa 67s on Sunday afternoon as the teams set for their 2nd game in as many days with the same 2:00pm start time, all that changed was the starting goaltenders with Marco Costantini for Hamilton & Max Donoso for Ottawa as the Bulldogs looked for their 40th win of the season.
The Bulldogs got out to a far better start in Sunday’s matinee as just 18 seconds into the contest; Logan Morrison won a face-off from the left wing circle of the Ottawa zone to Avery Hayes. Hayes turned the puck from the left boards to the right point for Arber Xhekaj to snap a shot past Max Donoso for his 11th of the season giving the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs found themselves in a bit of penalty trouble after a couple of post whistle scrums leading to a pair of Ottawa power-plays and they would strike on the 2nd one with Stoney Creek’s Luca Pinelli recording his 11th of the year at 9:34 tying the game 1-1. The Bulldogs put a press on late in the period with winger Ryan Humphrey ringing the crossbar but the game hit the intermission all knotted up 1-1 through 20.
Working on a season long trend of the second period of the game being the Bulldogs best of the season, Hamilton would re-take the lead through a Jan Mysak power-play goal as Morrison from the left circle to Avery Hayes below the goal line, feeding Jan Mysak in the slot for his 28th of the season to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way at :40 seconds of the second frame.
Marco Costantini shut the door in the 3rd period turning aside all 10 shots he faced while Ottawa tried to pile on the pressure and equalize the game. The Bulldogs kept their defensive structure strong, with all four lines and three defensive pairs rolling at the end of 5 games and 7 days and the entire roster kept the jump in their stride tossing 35 shots to Donoso’s goal. With the Ottawa net pulled Jan Mysak won a defensive zone draw with Ryan Winterton swopping onto the puck and feeding Ryan Humphrey for the empty net goal to clinch the Bulldogs’ 40 win of the season by a 3-1 final.
The Hamilton Bulldogs return to action on Thursday, March 24th taking on the North Bay Battalion at the Memorial Gardens with a 7:00pm start.