Hamilton Bulldogs maul Kingston Frontenacs
After blowing out the Kingston Frontenacs in Game 1 of the OHL’s Eastern Conference final, John Gruden predicted his Hamilton Bulldogs would encounter a completely different team in Game 2.
They did. One that was even worse.
Again, the visitors came out flat and again, the Bulldogs cruised to a lopsided win in front of a boisterous crowd of more than 5,600 at FirstOntario Centre, Friday. The final score was 7-1.
It took the Bulldogs less than three minutes to strike, with Nick Caamano opening the scoring for a second straight game. Brandon Saigeon, Robert Thomas, Ryan Moore and Will Bitten followed up with goals of their own, all before the first intermission.
Ryan Cranford put Kingston on the board late in the second, but Hamilton hit back with markers from Mackenzie Entwistle and Riley Stillman midway through the third.
In spite of the loss — and outscoring Kingston a combined 13-3 in the first two games — there is reason not to count the Frontenacs out. In the conference quarterfinals, they won four straight after dropping Game 1 to North Bay and then repeated that feat in the semifinals after being upended by Barrie in Games 1 and 2. A year ago, they also lost the first two games of their opening round series against the Bulldogs before going on to win Game 7 in overtime.
The best-of-seven now shifts to Kingston for Game 3 Sunday (6 p.m. on Cable 14) and Game 4 Tuesday. Game 5, if necessary, is Thursday in Hamilton.
Notes: Arthur Kaliyev was named to the OHL’s second allrookie team Friday and came third in rookie-of-the-year voting behind Barrie’s Andrei Svechnikov and Guelph’s Cam Hillis. He was top-scoring 16-year-old. ..