Bulldogs strike first with 4-3 OT win over Greyhounds
SAULT STE. MARIE — What do the Flint Firebirds, Oshawa Generals, Ottawa 67’s, Owen Sound Attack and Hamilton Bulldogs have in common?
They have all beaten the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in their own barn.
The Bulldogs squandered a three-goal lead but won in overtime to become just the fifth team to beat the Soo on home ice this season and take a 1-0 lead in the OHL final Thursday. Mackenzie Entwistle scored twice, including in OT, to give Hamilton the 4-3 win.
“We had to find a way to win that game and we did, so that’s the good news,” said head coach John Gruden. “But I believe we can be better.”
For the first time in four rounds, the Bulldogs do not have the luxury of home-ice advantage. That means for the first time they also had no choice but to win at least one game on the road.
Against most teams, no problem — Hamilton has a history of travelling well. The Greyhounds aren’t most teams, though.
In 34 regular-season games, they lost just three times at the Essar Centre. In the playoffs, now, it’s twice.
Distance is part of it. From downtown Hamilton, the Soo is an eight-hour, 738-kilometre drive north through the rocky crust of the Canadian Shield. But the building — and the hockeyobsessed crowd that fills it — is also a major factor.
Step into the sold-out rink and you are confronted with a throbbing sea of red and white. And, when things are going the Soo’s way, the sound it emits builds and swells like a wave.
The Bulldogs had the benefit of rest going into Game 1 — they were off for a week after beating Kingston in the conference final. The Greyhounds, meanwhile, had just two days to recover after going to double overtime against the Kitchener Rangers in their second sevengame series in a row.
Before the puck drop, Gruden said the quick turnaround meant little and the Soo would be ready regardless. “They’ve got a ton of fans there that are going to give them energy,” he added. He was right.
In the opening frame, the Greyhounds — not to mention their fans — lived up to their reputation. They were insanely fast, moved the puck well and had a few quality chances. Yet, it was the Bulldogs that struck first. With a little more than two minutes to go before intermission, Will Bitten drove to the net and Entwistle put in the rebound — a goal that sucked the oxygen out of the barn and slowed the Greyhounds. After a pair of goals by Robert Thomas and Brandon Saigeon early in the second, you could hear a pin drop.
Barrett Hayton got the crowd — and his team — back into the game midway through the period when he beat Kaden Fulcher cleanly with a high, hard shot from the top of the far circle.
Two minutes later, Boris Katchouk scored from the same spot and the Essar Centre was a zoo.
Halfway through the third, the Bulldogs left Taylor Raddysh wide open on the doorstep and he buried his shot to force overtime.
The series continues in the Soo on Saturday before shifting to Hamilton for Game 3 on Monday. Tickets are available online at hamiltonbulldogs.com, by phone at 905-529-8500 or at the FirstOntario Centre box office on Bay Street North.