Death by penalty kill
Bulldogs, unable to shut down Frontenacs’ power play, edged 3-2 in shootout
Here’s the good news.
For the first 35 minutes of Saturday’s game against the visiting Kingston Frontenacs, the Hamilton Bulldogs were firmly in control. They even ended an eight-game scoreless skid on the power play, with a dirty Michael Cramarossa goal that gave them a comfortable 2-0 lead. “We were up,” as the overage forward put it. But then, with five minutes to go in the second, they came crashing down. And that’s the bad news, at least for the Bulldogs.
Again, the club’s penalty kill — the third-worst in the Ontario Hockey League, and an absolute plague right now — faltered, allowing the Frontenacs to claw their way back from a two-goal deficit and win in a shootout, 3-2.
“It was just focus,” said Cramarossa. “We have to play with the lead better, obviously, and not just a couple of guys, but the whole team — we became softer in the second half and they got their goals. “It’s not a great way to end the weekend.” The loss marked the eighth time in the past 16 outings that the Bulldogs, who have just one win in their past seven games, sacrificed at least one or more power play goals and lost by one. In those eight losses — every one of which was to an intra-conference opponent — they allowed one goal on the penalty kill in five games, two in two and three in one.
This might not be such a huge problem if their power play was able to counterbalance the trend.
But it’s not. With the man advantage, the Bulldogs have gone 8-for-57 in their past 16 games — or 14 per cent, which is roughly half the power play percentage of league leaders Windsor.
However, in those eight one-goal losses, their power play scored on just two of 27 chances — or a truly appalling seven per cent of the time.
“It’s because we’re not making the right plays, we’re not communicating and we’re just trying to do it ourselves,” said defenceman Ben Gleason, who gets ample time on special teams. “That’s not the right thing. We’ve got to be a team.”
He also insisted it was not an issue of coaching (head coach John Gruden, meanwhile, said he takes responsibility for special teams, rather than either of his assistant coaches). “It’s us. We’re trying to do our own things and that’s not the right way,” said Gleason. On Saturday, Will Bitten opened the scoring six minutes into the first after Zack Jackson drove down the left wing and crossed the puck in front. Then, three minutes into the second, Cramarossa doubled the lead with his goal that ended Hamilton’s 0-for-26 spell on the power play.
By the 15-minute mark, however, all that forward momentum had stopped. First, Ted Nichol scored on a 3-on-2 with Hamilton short-handed — the 32nd power play goal the club has sacrificed in 28 games this season.
And then, with just 32 seconds to go in the period, Jacob Paquette tied it up on a rising shot from the point.
In the skills contest, Matthew Strome and Cramarossa missed for the Bulldogs, who elected to shoot first, while Jason Robertson and Linus Nyman beat Kaden Fulcher for the Frontenacs.
Jeremy Helvig, who was in net at the other end of the rink, registered his 12th win.
“We’ve got to come in and take care of business and it shouldn’t be this difficult,” said Gruden. “We’re making it difficult on ourselves.”
With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 2-0-0-1 against Kingston this season and 13-11-3-1 overall. They also drop into a tie for third place in a tight Eastern Conference, where just two points separates North Bay in second and Sudbury, Ottawa and the Frontenacs, who, as of Sunday morning, were locked in fifth. NOTES: Veteran forward Trent Fox was a healthy scratch for the second straight game Saturday. Head coach John Gruden didn’t point to a specific issue when asked about the decision, saying it’s “just time for him to watch and kind of time for him to take a little break.” Fox, who was likewise vague, said “right now I’m just doing the best I can to help out my teammates and support them from the crowd.” ... Matthew Strome was named the East Division’s academic player for November. The OHL says the 17year-old from Mississauga has “excelled” in his Grade 12 universitylevel courses at Ancaster High.