The Brantford Bulldogs opened the week with a Wednesday Halloween showdown against the Barrie Colts, looking to build on the best start in franchise history.
The opening frame belonged to Barrie, who struck twice while the physical tone escalated early. Tempers flared when Ryder Bulton and Luc Gauvreau were sent off, leading to 4-on-4 action. During the stretch, Marek Vanacker cut through the zone looking for a chance, but Cole Beaudoin stepped up to block the shot. After being denied earlier, Boulton dropped the gloves with Gauvreau in a spirited tilt that energized both benches. Riding the momentum, the Colts opened the scoring at 9:14. Crombie carried the puck into the zone and set up Evan Passmore, who finished with a slick backhand to make it 1–0 for the Colts. Barrie nearly added to the lead moments later when Brad Gardiner broke in alone, but David Egorov turned him aside with a blocker save. The Bulldogs responded with pressure of their own as Jake O’Brien found space in the slot and tried to slide a rebound pass across, but goaltender Ben Hrebik kicked the puck aside. Barrie doubled the lead at 12:39 when Jospeh Salandra pulled the puck off the half wall and found Emil Hemming in the slot, who fired home his first of the season in his first game back in the OHL. As tempers rose, Boulton dropped the gloves once more — this time against Kashawn Aitcheson in an attempt to energize his bench. At the end of 20 minutes the Colts carried a 2–0 lead into the intermission.
The second period followed a similar pattern, with Barrie maintaining momentum and Brantford fighting to respond. Vladimir Dravecky looked to get the Dogs on the board setting up Sam McCue for a chance that went just wide. Jake O’Brien then tried to feed Vanacker in front, but once again Hrebik made the save. After a scrum involved Kashawan Aitcheson & Marek Vanacker at one end, Lucas Moore dropped the gloves with Calvin Crombie at the other, feeling the former Bulldog ran Edison Engle from behind. The enof of the fracas resulted in a Colts power-play where they capitalized at 15:07 as Hemming netted his second of the night on a rebound for a 3-0 lead. Egorov came up big again late in the period, making a sliding save on Desiderio that seemed to turn the play. The Bulldogs on a man advantage of their own, made it count late in the 2nd at 19:28. Jake O’Brien dished the puck to Adam Benak, who stepped through the right circle and snapped a shot over Hrebik’s shoulder for his seventh of the season to cut the deficit to 3–1 heading into the third.
Barrie extended the lead once more early in the third. At 2:50, Crombie fed Schneid, who settled the puck and fired home his fourth of the year to make it 4–1. Brantford responded just five minutes later when, off a faceoff win, Cooper Dennis, with tremendous lateral movement set up Caleb Malhotra, banking his sixth of the season off his skate to make it 4–2. The Bulldogs kept rolling as Jake O’Brien set Marek Vanacker, on a breakaway where the Blackhawks 1st rounder froze Hrebik and wristed it past the Colts’ netminder 8:02 to pull within a goal. At 10:38, Benak pounced on a loose puck at the top of the crease leaving it on for a crashing Adam Jiricek who notched his fourth of the game to tie the game 4–4, overcoming the three-goal deficit. With the game tied late, Protz tripped Hemming on a breakaway, awarding the Colts a penalty shot. Egorov stood tall, turning aside Hemming’s backhand to send the game to overtime. In the extra frame, Beaudoin worked the puck down low to Hemming, who set up Aitcheson in front to bury the winner and secure a 5–4 overtime victory for Barrie.
Story written by Mikayla Grimes
