Fulcher ‘backbones’ Bulldogs to five of six weekend points
It was a good weekend for the Hamilton Bulldogs, bad ending aside.
The team picked up five of a possible six points with wins in Mississauga Friday, Barrie Saturday and a shootout loss at home Sunday to Kingston.
And the best news? They seem to have ironed out some of the kinks — poor defensive zone coverage included — that contributed to last weekend’s season opening loss.
“Our practices were kind of boring,” said forward Will Bitten, who needed just 23 seconds to open the scoring against the Frontenacs. “It was only systems. But we really worked on it and it paid off.”
Defence was only part of it, though. The Bulldogs also managed to generate more offensive opportunities and make good on some of their scoring chances. Perhaps most importantly, they got excellent goaltending from Kaden Fulcher.
Playing three games in less than 48 hours, the 19-year-old netminder allowed just four goals — three of which he had no chance on. He also earned a shutout against the Steelheads, stopped the Colts in a shootout and gave Hamilton a shot to close out the weekend with a win. “He is playing so well right now,” said head coach John Gruden. “He’s got a lot of command in that net and he just looks really, really good.” Others have noticed, too. After each of the last three games, Fulcher’s teammates have talked about his heightened confidence. He’s handling the puck well, controlling rebounds and tracking shots through traffic. He’s also working his angles and
putting himself in good positions to make first saves.
“He was our backbone,” said forward Owen Burnell. “He couldn’t have played better for us this weekend and I’m learning very quickly he’s one of the better goalies in the league. He stepped up for us and made some timely saves.”
A Caledonia native, Burnell also scored in Sunday’s 4-3 shootout loss — his first OHL goal. The same goes for forward Arthur Kaliyev, who put the Bulldogs ahead of the Frontenacs midway through the second frame.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, it wasn’t enough to stave off the Kingston attack. Ryan Cranford scored twice to tie it up — including once short-handed — before Jason Robertson forced the game to overtime late in the third. The Dallas Stars prospect also notched the shootout winner.
“We did get away from what was working and what wasn’t,” said Gruden. “I’d say we were pretty good for two periods — pretty good for the first, half of the second and half of the third.”
One major trouble spot for the Bulldogs this weekend was the power play. On top of Cranford’s goal, they allowed a handful of good short-handed chances while failing to get any their own offence going. So far this season, they’re 0-for-16 with the extra man.
“It can’t get any worse,” said Gruden. “The one positive is our PK has been really good and it’s kind of offset it.”
Going into Sunday’s game, the penalty kill was operating at nearly 92 per cent — a dramatic improvement over last season when the Bulldogs had the second worst PK in the OHL. Numbers were even better following Kingston’s visit.