Bulldogs make it three straight

HAMILTON 4, SAGINAW 3

Call it a knack for the comeback.

After falling behind 3-0 to the host Saginaw Spirit, the Hamilton Bulldogs scored four unanswered goals to earn their third straight OHL win and ninth in 11 games Thursday. Marian Studenic led the way with a pair of goals, while Matt Strome and Mackenzie Entwistle each had two assists.

Saginaw had won five in a row and seven straight at home heading into the game and its streak looked safe early on. Just 30 seconds in, Kyle Bollers batted a rebound past Kaden Fulcher to put the Spirit on the board.

Ryan Stepien, a Hamilton native, notched the second goal of the contest 10 minutes later when he spun and fired the puck into the mesh over Fulcher’s left shoulder and Cole Coskey had the third early in the middle frame.

The Bulldogs got one back five minutes into the second when Studenic popped a loose puck past Evan Cormier on the power play. The Slovakian import struck again early in the third to bring the Bulldogs within a goal before Isaac Nurse tied it up and Arthur Kaliyev notched the winner.

Entwistle was back in the lineup after missing the past 10 games with a fractured hand. He skated alongside Brandon Saigeon and Ryan Moore, who was minus-2 in his Bulldogs debut.

The Flint Firebirds dealt Moore and Ancaster native Nick Caamano to Hamilton for Connor Roberts and a trio of draft picks last week. The duo will face off against their former team Friday, when the Eastern Conference-leading Bulldogs continue their annual Michigan road trip.

The league’s last-place Firebirds were in trouble even before trading their two top scorers in Moore and Caamano. They go into the matchup on a five-game losing skid and with just one win in their past 15 outings. NOTES: Arthur Kaliyev extended his point streak to a leagueleading 11 games Thursday. He also went into the game topping all 16-year-old OHL rookies in scoring with 17 points. … Thursday’s game was Troy Smith’s first against former own team since taking over as the head coach of the Spirit. The Hamilton native previously served as an associate coach and assistant general manager for the Bulldogs. … The Bulldogs wore their alternate jerseys against the Spirit. The reason? It might have something to do with the fact that they downed Ottawa 6-2 when they debuted them last weekend.