Finishing out their final home game of the regular season on Fan Appreciation Night, the Brantford Bulldogs hosted the North Bay Battalion at the TD Civic Centre.
Prior to puck drop, the Bulldogs held a ceremony to honour their OA’s, recognizing the contributions of Charlie Paquette and Zackary Sandhu for their leadership and commitment to the team. The Battalion looked to open the scoring early, as Kaden Pitre got a stick on a tip-in opportunity, but David Egorov came up with the stop. At the other end, the Bulldogs generated a chance of their own when Ben Danford fired a long drive from the blue line with Luca Testa stationed in front, but Jack Lisson turned that aside as well. Brantford kept pressing, with Marek Vanacker attempting to wire a shot over Lisson’s shoulder, but the North Bay netminder made the save. The play resulted in a post-whistle scrum, sending the Battalion to the power play. Jonathan Kapageridis looked to capitalize with a drive, but Egorov stood tall and flashed the glove to keep the game scoreless. The Bulldogs would then head to the man advantage and make it count. At 9:19, Adam Benak worked the puck to Caleb Malhotra, who found Adam Jiricek in the left circle. Jiricek then blasted home his 19th of the season to give Brantford a 1-0 lead. North Bay responded late in the frame. At 18:54, Ryder Carey set up Arseny Pronin, who hammered a shot past Egorov for his seventh of the season, sending both teams to the locker room deadlocked at 1-1.
For the rest of the full game recap, check out the Bulldogs Web site.
Story by Mikayla Grimes
