‘Best game of the year’ for IceDogs
The Niagara IceDogs are guaranteed at least two more playoff games after playing their “best game of the year.”
That they needed to bring their A game was the rallying cry among the players heading out for the first period Monday night and, for the most part, the Ontario Hockey League team did just that.
While they surrendered two goals late in the third, giving the visiting Hamilton Bulldogs the chance to win in overtime for the third game in a row, this time it was the IceDogs breathing a sigh of relief while celebrating a game-winning goal.
“They didn’t say ‘It’s the biggest game of the year, but ‘Let’s have our best game of the year,’” Niagara head coach Billy Burke said after a 4-3 victory that cuts Hamilton’s lead in the best-ofseven Eastern Conference semifinal to two games to one.
“For the most part, they showed up and, once again, showed that they care.”
Fourth-seeded Niagara jumped out to a 2-0 lead and outshot No. 1 seed Hamilton 13-12 in the first period, but was outshot 38-21 the rest of the way.
Once again, IceDogs goaltender Stephen Dhillon was the star of the game, Kirill Maksimov’s game winner 11:27 into the first overtime notwithstanding.
“They came out hot in overtime and had us on our heels, and Stephen was amazing,” Burke said. “We were able to find a way to get it done.”
Dhillon said the IceDogs had a good feeling heading into overtime. They felt momentum was still on their side, even after letting Hamilton back into the game.
“We knew this was our game, we outplayed them for the most of the game, so we thought we’re going to get it done in front of our hometown fans,” the third-year goaltender said.
Sustained pressure by the Bulldogs in the third period didn’t surprise Dhillon in the least.
“They were coming pretty hard, we knew they were going to have a pushback,” he said.
The Bulldogs benefited from a “couple of bad bounces.”
“I don’t think they could try and get those bounces again if they could,” Dhillon said.
The difference between Niagara’s start Monday night and in the first two games of the series was night and day. While the IceDogs only outshot the Bulldogs by a 13-12 margin, that was a marked improvement over a 22-6 discrepancy in the series opener and a 16-7 difference in Game 2.
Niagara opened the scoring — and took its first lead in the series — 6:20 into the game on Ben Jones’ fourth goal of the playoffs.
The IceDogs took a 2-0 lead less than a minute later when Akil Thomas scored on the power play with his team-leading fifth goal of the post-season.
Isaac Nurse, Hamilton’s hero in overtime in Game 1, scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway after Niagara turned over the puck while pressing in the offensive zone.
Any momentum from that goal proved to be short-lived with Elijah Roberts scoring on the power play for IceDogs a little more than a minute later. Shots on net in the middle frame were 14-9 in favour of the Bulldogs.
In the third period, an inability to clear the puck out of harm’s
way allowed Hamilton to sustain pressure in the offensive zone. That prolonged presence in close proximity of blue paint allowed the Bulldogs to create plenty of traffic in front of Dhillon and culminated in Ryan Moore making it a one-goal game with 3:26 remaining in regulation.
With the Bulldogs on the power play and Kaden Fulcher out of the net for an extra attacker, Mackenzie Entwistle forced overtime with 45 seconds left on the clock.
Hamilton outshot Niagara 13-6 in the third period and was up 11-4 on the shot clock before Maksimov netted his first goal of the post-season.
Dhillon has by far been the busier of the two goaltenders in the first-ever playoff series in the K9 Cup rivalry coming in Monday night’s game. In two-plus games –132 minutes, 38 seconds, to be precise – he had faced 97 shots surrendering eight goals. Fulcher had allowed six goals on 57 shots between the pipes for the Bulldogs.
This was the first game in the series in which the team that forced overtime went on to lose.
Hamilton and Niagara both advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals after eliminating their first-round opponents in five games. Hamilton played the eighth seed, the Ottawa 67’s, and Niagara the fifth seed, Oshawa Generals.
One streak was destined to come to an end in Game 3. Niagara took the ice Monday night with a 3-0 record at home in the playoffs. Hamilton came into the game undefeated on the road, 2-0.
Niagara earned 11 of a possible 12 points in head-to-head play against Hamilton during the regular season. The IceDogs won five of six games, their lone setback a 5-4 overtime loss at home March 1.
’Dog Biscuits: Before the opening faceoff players from both teams stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a circle observing a minute of silence for the victims of the Humboldt Broncos team bus tragedy … Andre Bruder, C; Billy Constantinou, D; Ian Martin, RW; were out of the Niagara lineup. Owen Brunell, C; Jake Gravell, D; Kade Landry, D; Jake Murray, C; Navrin Murray, LW; Liam Van Loon, LW; did not dress for Hamilton … The Bulldogs have nine National Hockey League prospects on their roster; the IceDogs, three … Centre Kyle Langdon was in the Niagara lineup for the first time since receiving a sixgame suspension for a blindside hit in Game 1 of the quarter-final series versus the Oshawa Generals … Donations were collected in support of the Humboldt Broncos in the wake of junior hockey tragedy that killed 15 people. Fans could also add their well wishes to large banners that will be sent to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team … Dennis Young donated the Humboldt Broncos jersey he wore from 1987 to 1990 for a raffle … Jesse Stull sang the national anthem.