Bulldogs fry Fish in shootout win

They’re back in the win column.

The Hamilton Bulldogs snapped a three-game losing skid with a 4-3 shootout decision over the host Mississauga Steelheads Friday.

Will Bitten beat Jacob Ingham to bring the skills contest to a close.

With the win, Hamilton improved to 3-2 against Mississauga this season and extended an interesting trend. Through five games, neither team has won at home.

Slovakian import Marian Studenic put his own rebound through Ingham’s legs to open the scoring for the Bulldogs just six minutes into the first. Then, six minutes later, Matthew Strome doubled the lead, finishing a perfect pass across the slot from linemate Matt Luff.

Before the end of the frame, Spencer Watson scored his first of two back-to-back goals to put the Steelheads on the board. That marker, assisted by Trent Fox, also extended his scoring streak to five games.

Niki Petti picked the corner above Ingham’s glove to put the Bulldogs back on top halfway through the second.

But Fox, the former Bulldog, wasn’t having it. With seven minutes gone in the third, he beat Dawson Carty — a goal that would ultimately send the game, his first against his old team, to overtime.

Along with Watson, he also scored in the shootout, while Bitten, Petti and Michael Cramarossa found the back of the net for Hamilton.

Ingham, an OHL rookie, was solid in net for the Steelheads with 26 saves. Carty had 30 in his 19th win.

The Steelheads went into the Friday’s game in second place in the Eastern Conference with just one loss — another shootout defeat — in the past seven games. The fifth-place Bulldogs, meanwhile, were sinking in the standings with a 1-6 record over their last seven outings.

The Bulldogs are back at it Saturday when this year’s Memorial Cup hosts, the Windsor Spitfires, make their lone trip to Hamilton. Despite being plagued with injuries this season, the Spits started the weekend in fourth place in the Western Conference, just a few points back of London, Sault Ste. Marie and the conference leaders, Erie.

Game time is 7 p.m.