OHL-champion Bulldogs get on the board at Memorial Cup

REGINA — Marian Studenic woke up Monday morning with a sore throat and fever and wasn’t sure whether he was going to be able to play later that night.

But the Hamilton forward overcame illness to score the winner later in the day as the Bulldogs edged Swift Current 2-1 to win their first game at the Memorial Cup despite a standout performance from Broncos goaltender Stuart Skinner.

“This morning I felt so bad,” Studenic said. “I was like: ‘Oh my God, maybe I don’t play today.’ ”

Studenic received a back-door pass from Benjamin Gleason with just over two minutes remaining. The puck almost skipped over his stick but he was able to settle it down.

“I got pretty lucky there,” he said. “I didn’t want to shoot it like that because it’s kind of like bouncing over my stick and I hit at it. But it was such a good bounce.”

It took a long time for the OHL champions to solve Skinner after Mackenzie Entwistle’s first period power-play goal.

The Broncos goaltender and Edmonton Oilers prospect finished the game with 54 saves.

Swift Current coach Manny Viveiros said his WHL team wouldn’t have had a chance if it wasn’t for Skinner.

“He kept us in the game. Without Stuart, the score would have got out of hand a lot quicker,” he said.

Kaden Fulcher made 20 saves to earn the win in net for the Bulldogs (1-1), who gained a bit of breathing room in the Canadian major junior championship with the victory. Hamilton wraps up round-robin play today against the Quebec league’s AcadieBathurst Titan (2-0).

Colby Sissons found the back of the net midway through the second for Swift Current (0-2), which faces a must-win game on Wednesday against host Regina (1-1).