Stillman and Lemcke: the shutdown duo
The Bulldogs are counting on the two veteran blueliners to neutralize scoring threats
It’s a difficult assignment, and Justin Lemcke and Riley Stillman are proving they’re up to the task.
Throughout the playoffs, the Hamilton Bulldogs have relied on the two big blueliners to neutralize their opponents’ top offensive threats. And, if you ask head coach John Gruden, they’ve done an “outstanding” job so far.
“They’ve really solidified those No. 1 and 2 spots for us, which we’ve probably been missing,” he added. “They’ve really taken the bull by the horns.”
Going into Game 2 of their Eastern Conference final against the Kingston Frontenacs Friday, Stillman and Lemcke have a collective nine points and the best plus-minus ratings in the Ontario Hockey League. Beyond that, they’ve been a force in the Bulldogs zone.
In Round 1, the pair played a key role in holding Ottawa’s top trio to four goals. They were even better against Niagara in the second round, allowing the first line to score just three times (and only once five-on-five).
Kingston’s Linus Nyman, Gabe Vilardi and Brett Neumann are the toughest challenge to date — going into Round 3, they had accounted for almost half of the Frontenacs’ playoff scoring. Stillman, 20, said bring it on. “I live for that,” the Florida Panthers prospect added. “I want to prove that I can play against the best players every night so I can play at the next level.”
If that’s the case, he and his partner are off to a good start.
In Game 1 Wednesday — a lopsided, 6-2 Bulldogs win — Stillman and Lemcke rendered Nyman, Vilardi and Neumann scoreless and held them to one shot each. However, they were both on the ice when Max Jones capitalized on a defensive breakdown to put Kingston on the board.
“Obviously, there’s still more work to do,” said Lemcke, 21.
The fact that duo has managed to develop chemistry in such a short period of time is impressive. Gruden tried them together for a month-or-so after the team acquired Stillman in late December. Then, he paired them up again in mid-March.
The bench boss said he reunited the roughly six-foot-two, 200pound veterans in order to create a physical presence. “I thought it would be, I don’t want to say intimidating, but both of them are big and strong and they’ve been in this league a long time.”
But that’s not all Stillman, who’s from Peterborough, and Lemcke, a Whitby native, have in common.
The “good buddies” who live together in a billet home on the central Mountain said they share a power skating coach in the summer. They’ve also been playing against one another for years.
“I’ve known him for a long time,” said Stillman, who came to Hamilton in a deal with the Oshawa Generals, an East Division rival.
“He’s been great to play with,” added Lemcke — and the team’s last line of defence agreed.
“I think they just do everything defencemen should,” said goaltender Kaden Fulcher. “They’re an unbelievable pairing together and I love having them out on the ice in front of me. They know when to block the shots, when to get out of the way and they’re
always communicating on goalie handles.
“They’ve just been awesome.” They’ve also had a lot of support. On top of Stillman and Lemcke, the pairings of Connor Walters and Jack Hanley and Nicolas Mattinen and Ben Gleason have been solid — even exceptional at times, as have Hamilton’s backchecking forwards. There’s proof of that in the numbers.
At 2.55 goals against per game, the Bulldogs have allowed significantly less tallies than every other team in the playoffs. They’ve also given up the fewest shots on average, at slightly under 28. In Gruden’s opinion, every man on the ice deserves credit. The D, he said, “cannot stand up and cannot read plays if they don’t have that back pressure from our forwards and our forwards have done an unbelievable job of coming back hard.”
Stillman, meanwhile, said the work will only get harder in Game 2. After Wednesday’s mismatched loss, the Frontenacs are looking to get back on track and
back into the best-of-seven series.
“They’re a different team,” he added. “Friday’s game will be a different team.”
Game 2 starts at 7 p.m. at FirstOntario Centre. After that, the series shifts to Kingston for Games 3 and 4.
Notes: Local author Denis Gibbons will be selling copies of his book “Hockey: My Door to Europe” in the concourse at FirstOntario Centre Friday. A portion of the proceeds go to support the Bulldogs Foundation ... Bulldogs winger Nick Caamano goes into Game 2 with at least a point in 11 straight playoff games — the longest current point streak in the OHL. The Ancaster native has five goals and 10 assists over that span ... Isaac Nurse is expected to be back in the Bulldogs lineup Friday. The Hamilton born winger left midway through the third period of Game 1 after being hit into the glass behind the Kingston net and didn’t return. “He got dinged up there,” said head coach John Gruden. “I don’t know if they’re putting any stitches in, but all in all he’s going to be okay.”