Frontenacs’ best is ‘not good enough’
KINGSTON — Finally, the Kingston Frontenacs showed up.
After being blown out in the first two games of the OHL’s Eastern Conference final, the Fronts stormed out of the gates on home ice Sunday. But despite their best — or at least better — efforts, they still came up short against the Hamilton Bulldogs.
“Not good enough,” Kingston coach Jay Varady said in the wake of the 3-1 loss. “You don’t get loser points in the playoffs. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to win a hockey game.”
The truth is, the Fronts have no other choice. If they don’t find a way to come out on top in Game 4 Tuesday, their campaign will be over and the Bulldogs will be through to the OHL final.
“It’s been done before and we’ve got a group that can do it again,” said defenceman Jacob Brahaney. “We’ve just got to come to the rink and have no doubt and be ready to fight for our lives.”
The fact that Hamilton is in a position to sweep the Fronts is a bit of a surprise considering how evenly-matched the teams were in the regular season. The first two games of the series were completely lopsided, however, with the Bulldogs outscoring Kingston 13-3 combined.
“It was definitely not what we expected,” said Hamilton blueliner Nicolas Mattinen.
Instead, what they expected was the energy and the toughness and the resilience they finally found themselves up against in Game 3.
In spite of playing catch-up — the Bulldogs Ben Gleason beat goalie Jeremy Helvig on a shot from the point just 1:16 in — the Fronts were relentless in the early going, outshooting Bulldogs and drawing even on a Ryan Cranford goal late in the opening frame. Again it wasn’t enough.
After a scoreless second in which Helvig and Bulldogs netminder Kaden Fulcher both made several extraordinary saves, Hamilton’s Isaac Nurse notched the winner with just over 14 minutes to go. The Fronts came close to tying it up several times late in the third before, Brandon Saigeon sealed the win with a shot into an empty net.
“Both teams really brought their best and I just loved the way our guys just stuck with it,” said Hamilton coach John Gruden. “I liked the fact that it was a tight game and we were fortunate to come out on top.”
The best-of-seven continues at the K Rock Centre Tuesday (7 p.m. on Cable 14). Game 5, if necessary, is Thursday in Hamilton.
NOTES: Cliff Pu returned to the Kingston lineup after missing Game 2 with a knee injury. He skated between Jason Robertson and Brett Neumann on the second line. … Ryan Moore extended his point streak to 12 games assisting Gleason.