Bulldogs experience weekend turbulence with pair of losses
It’s rare for Dave Matsos to go into the dressing room after a game, let alone call a team meeting. But the Hamilton Bulldogs coach did both following a 3-2 loss to the North Bay Battalion on Sunday. Why?
“I don’t want these guys to get discouraged. Because this is sport, you’re going to hit turbulence, and you’re going to hit it multiple times throughout the course of a season,” he said. “It’s how you manage it. And I just wanted these guys to know that from a discipline standpoint we have to be better.”
Matsos is right. Penalty trouble did have something to do with the team’s fourth straight loss. Over that span, the Bulldogs were short-handed 21 times and sacrificed four power play goals, although none were against the Battalion.
But it’s only part of a larger problem. Which is that the Bulldogs are a team prone to lapses — “brain farts,” as defenceman Nic Mattinen likes to call them — and it’s started to take a toll.
Over the course of this skid, which also included losses to the Oshawa Generals, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Sudbury Wolves, the Bulldogs have generally scored first, shot more and played at least as well as their opposition.
For five or 10 minutes a game, though, or sometimes for a period, they simply let up.
“We’re frustrated,” said Mattinen, who had a goal against North Bay, “because we’ve kind of been playing the right way. We’ve been getting better and the little mishaps here and there are costing us games.”
Mackenzie Entwistle agreed.
“It’s frustrating,” said the team captain — especially for the veterans. “Last year we rarely lost, so to have this feeling a lot is something we’re not used to and has to change, for sure.”
Aside from the issue of discipline, Matsos also touched on defensive zone coverage and missed offensive chances in his postgame meeting. He said his players have been getting “too pretty,” and need to worry more about creating “chaos” in front of the net than on scoring highlight reel goals.
His main message, however, was to maintain focus. From the opening faceoff right to the final buzzer.
“I feel bad for them, but it just goes to show 15 games in that this is a group that has to play a full 60 minutes,” he said.
“We have to be sharp for 60, and if we’re not it just becomes that much more of a challenge for us.”
Arthur Kaliyev opened the scoring a little more than six minutes into the game from three feet behind the goal-line. After that it was three straight Battalion goals — two by Brad Chenier and one by league-leading scorer Justin Brazeau — before Mattinen cut the lead halfway through the third.
Despite not seeing a lot of action, Zach Roy was sharp in his sixth start of the season and third since the team’s No. 1 goalie, Nick Donofrio, was sidelined with a concussion last weekend. Hamilton outshot North Bay 33-18 and Oshawa 30-23 two nights earlier.
The Bulldogs kept pace with the Generals for more than 57 minutes in that outing, before giving up two late goals and losing 5-3.
“Aside from the penalty trouble, I thought the guys stuck to the game plan,” Matsos said in the aftermath. Oshawa scored twice on six power play chances. The Bulldogs aren’t back in action until Saturday, when the Kingston Frontenacs come to town. Which, if you ask Mattinen, is a good thing.
It gives them time to reset, to reflect. To regroup. “We just have to go in and have good workouts and good practices and build good energy for next weekend,” he said. NOTES: Frank Jenkins was scratched this weekend with D.J. King returning from an ankle injury. The big Bulldogs defenceman had been out of the lineup since late September. Logan Morrison (shoulder), Jake
Murray (knee) and Owen Burnell (concussion) were still missing, as well . ... Mackenzie Entwistle’s eightgame point streak came to an end against the Battalion. The Chicago Blackhawks prospect had seven goals and five assists over that span . ... Some fans had to keep score for themselves over the weekend after the west side of the FirstOntario Centre scoreboard went dark. The Bulldogs said Spectra, which manages the facility for the city, is responsible for repairs and is working on fixing the issue . ... Brandon Saigeon celebrated his 250th OHL appearance, against the Generals, on Friday by scoring a pair of goals. Rookie Avery Hayes also tallied, while Zach Roy had 18 saves in the loss.