By Dale Lamontagne, Hamilton Bulldogs Correspondent, Bulldogs Hockey Report
TORONTO, ON — Just less than 24 hours after their Friday night win at FirstOntario Centre, the Hamilton Bulldogs travelled down the QEW to Toronto to take on the Marlies at the Ricoh Coliseum for the rivals back-to-back weekend. The Bulldogs shutout the Marlies on Friday on First Responders Night and, of course, the North American pro debut of highly touted Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, William Nylander. Hamilton spoiled the night for Nylander and the Marlies in front of 10,451 fans at a packed arena.
On Saturday afternoon in Toronto, the Bulldogs extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-3 overtime win.
The first period at Ricoh after twenty-minutes of play would see a tie game. Unlike Friday’s game in Hamilton at the FirstOntario Centre, there were two goals in the opening frame and it didn’t take long after puck drop. Just a couple of minutes after the game began, the Bulldogs struck first with Drayson Bowman scoring his seventh of the season. Bowman received a really nice pass from Mac Bennett, sending him towards the net and beating Antoine Bibeau on the blocker side.
But the Bulldogs would not keep their 1-0 lead for long. Forward Brandon Kozun tied the game for the Toronto Marlies on a nice pass from Spencer Abbott in front of Mike Condon, tipping the shot and beating the Bulldogs netminder five-hole.
Just after the Kozun goal that tied the game, Carter Ashton bumped into Condon. The goal was waived off and Ashton went to the box for the minor penalty. The remainder of the period saw the Bulldogs have a short two-man advantage on the power-play but the ‘Dogs did not capitalize.
Ashton gave the Marlies a quick 2-1 lead just 22 seconds after puck drop to open the second period. The Bulldogs found themselves down by two goals thanks to Matt Finn who scored his first AHL career goal giving Toronto a 3-1 edge.
Maxime Macenauer cut the Marlies lead with a deflection in front, beating Bibeau high blocker side. Gabriel Dumont tied the game for the Bulldogs at the 9:44 mark in the third period with a shot that beat Bibeau, five-hole.
Sixty minutes was not be enough to decide the game, overtime was required! It didn’t take long for the game to end in the extra period, as Hamilton’s Sven Andrighetto scored to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 win and a sweep in the home-and-home against the Marlies.