Bulldogs embarked on the second round of the OHL Playoffs on home ice at the TD Civic Centre, squaring off against the North Bay Battalion on Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs entered the matchup with plenty of momentum following a first-round sweep of the eighth-seeded Sudbury Wolves. They also received a boost to their lineup with the return of Dylan Tsherna and Parker Holmes, while a late adjustment saw Camron Hankai draw in for Vladimir Dravecky. The Bulldogs thought they had opened the scoring early, as Jett Luchanko dropped a pass back to Marek Vanacker, who fired a shot over the shoulder of Jack Lisson. However, North Bay challenged the play, and the goal was overturned due to offside. Brantford didn’t waste any time responding. On the power play at 2:09, Adam Jiricek set up Jake O’Brien for a one-timer that was initially stopped, but Caleb Malhotra pounced on the rebound, burying his 6th of the playoffs to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. The Battalion looked to answer with a man advantage of their own, but the Bulldogs’ penalty kill held strong. Ben Danford disrupted the play, while moments later, Ryerson Leenders turned aside a slot chance from Shamar Moses with a solid blocker save. Back the other way, Cooper Dennis found space in the slot and fired a quick shot, but Lisson came up with the stop. Moments later, the Bulldogs doubled their lead at 9:08. Marek Vanacker connected with Jett Luchanko, who drove the net and jammed the puck under the pads of Lisson for his first of the playoffs. Brantford continued to pour on the pressure, striking again at 12:51. Off a turnover, Caleb Malhotra and Cooper Dennis broke out on an odd-man rush, where Malhotra elected to pass, setting up Dennis for a blast that made it 3-0. The Bulldogs kept rolling at 16:51, as Malhotra followed up his own initial shot and snapped home the rebound for his second of the game and 7th of the postseason. Brantford capped off a dominant opening frame at 18:37. Jake O’Brien led the rush and found Marek Vanacker, who quickly returned the puck across to O’Brien, and he finished the play to make it 5-0. After 20 minutes of play, the Bulldogs headed to the intermission with a commanding 5-0 lead, outshooting the Battalion 19-5.
For the rest of the full game recap, check out the Bulldogs Web site.
Story by Mikayla Grimes
