Bulldogs again show they don’t flinch in the face of adversity
Words like character, big effort, gutsy performance defining this team
It would be difficult to make any kind of case that the Hamilton Bulldogs have been a team wracked with adversity through these playoffs. Injuries haven’t been an issue. Bad bounces haven’t been an ongoing problem. They haven’t been the victims of too many strange calls.
Even so, chalking up their success to good fortune or the smiling graces of the hockey gods would be a terribly unfair assessment of how they’ve put themselves two wins from a championship.
They’ve made their own luck and prevented adversity from becoming a storyline. Monday offered a perfect demonstration of how they’ve done this.
Every time they’ve lost a game in these playoffs — there have only been four of those — they’ve rebounded to win the next one. Which they did again in Game 3 by a knee-knocking and perfectly appropriate score of 6-5. After all, all the great games in this building end in that score, don’t they?
It was no sure thing. Having let an opportunity to grab a 2-0 series lead get away on Saturday, the Bulldogs could’ve responded poorly and let a rough night turn into a troubling streak. Instead, they responded to a downer with a big effort.
This was a character win. The kind that’s paid for in effort, bruises, and some gut-suckingly-long shifts on the penalty kill, which leave lactic-acid-loaded muscles screaming for mercy.
That’s the macro picture. The micro response to whatever adversity they’ve faced is just as impressive.
Just minutes into Monday’s game — played in front of a terrific crowd of 7,349 at First Ontario Centre, the second-largest crowd in the OHL playoffs this season behind only London — Hamilton goalie Kaden Fulcher served up one of the all-time stinkers on the first shot he faced. Suddenly the Greyhounds had the lead they desperately wanted, temporarily sucking all the air out of the building. This could’ve been a nightmare. The visitors are really tough when they’re playing with the lead.
Yet it took just a couple minutes for the home side to get that back. And a few more to grab the lead. Then just a little while longer to grab a third.
Every time the Soo made a push, Hamilton responded. Every time the Greyhounds closed the gap, the Bulldogs reopened it.