Baited Bulldogs shut out in Barrie

The Barrie Colts baited the Bulldogs into playing their brand of hockey and it paid off.

The Colts, who lead the OHL in penalty minutes, got out to an early lead and were willing to hit, fight and pester — whatever it took — to maintain it in a 6-0 win over visiting Hamilton Thursday. Leo Lazarev had 37 saves in his second straight shutout.

It didn’t take long for the Colts to strike, with Luke Bignell banging in a rebound and Zach Magwood finding the top corner behind goalie Kaden Fulcher all within the first 13 minutes. Then, things got rough. It started with Matt Strome checking Justin Murray into the boards behind the Barrie net.

The defenceman turned, slashed, dropped his gloves and started punching the Bulldogs forward on the back of the helmet. While the penalties on that play were being sorted out, Justin Lemcke went after Murray and Christopher Campbell went after him. The result? Game misconducts for Murray, Campbell and the Hamilton captain and a seven-minute power play for the Bulldogs.

But they failed to capitalize on the opportunity.

To add insult to injury, Magwood scored again almost immediately after to give the Colts a three-goal lead early in the second frame. Curtis Douglas, Jason Willms and Mathew Hill rounded out the scoring in the third.

As bad as things were, it could have been worse for the Bulldogs. The Colts were without their top offensive threat in Andrei Svechnikov, who is sidelined with a broken hand.

Thursday’s game was the first of three for the 6-3-1-2 Bulldogs this weekend. They host London at 4 p.m. Saturday before travelling to Peterborough to take on the Petes at 2 p.m. Sunday.