Bulldogs break out, beat Otters
The Hamilton Bulldogs did something unusual against the Erie Otters Friday. They scored. The guys with the worst goalsper-game average in the OHL struck early and often in a 7-4 win over the league’s reigning champs — the first time the Bulldogs have notched more than five goals in any game this season.
What’s even more interesting?
They did it without four of their regular forwards.
Arthur Kaliyev put the Bulldogs ahead just 25 seconds into the first, when his shot from the far circle ricocheted off an Erie defender and past goalie Troy Timpano. Within the next eight minutes, Justin Lemcke doubled the lead with a screened shot from the point, and Hamilton native Kyle Maksimovich fired a rebound past netminder Kaden Fulcher to put Erie on the board. After that, it only took Matt Strome 11 seconds to regain the two-goal cushion with a snipe over Timpano’s left shoulder.
The Otters struck again late in the second — a power play marker courtesy of Carson Edwardson. Then it was Marian Studenic who picked off a pass inside the Erie zone and put the Bulldogs up by a pair again to start the third.
In the final frame, Brandon Saigeon scored twice on the power play and Connor Walters added a single to make it the squad’s best offensive effort since March. Maksimovich and Christian Girhiny rounded out the scoring for Erie late in the period.
The Bulldogs were missing several players against the Otters, including Mackenzie Entwistle, who is sidelined with a boxer’s fracture, and Owen Burnell and Jake Murray, who are both day-today with head injuries. Connor McMichael is also away at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
Next up for the Bulldogs is a trip to Mississauga to take on the Steelheads Sunday. They won the only previous meeting between the teams 2-0, but this time the Fish are packing a bit more firepower in Owen Tippett. The Florida Panthers returned the 18-year-old, who had 44 goals for Mississauga last season, to the team early in the week.