The Ottawa 67’s defeated the Brantford Bulldogs 5-2 in game three of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at TD Place Arena in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 3, 2024.
Just over a minute into the game, Bulldogs netminder Matteo Drobac made two key saves on Ottawa centreman Braden Kressler and right winger Will Gerrior.
For the third time in this series, the Bulldogs struck first. At 1:47, left winger Marek Vanacker exchanged passes with centreman Jake O’Brien at centre ice. In the Ottawa zone, O’Brien passed the puck from the left side to left winger Marek Vanacker, who beat 67’s netminder Collin MacKenzie for his second goal of the playoffs. O’Brien gets his third assist of the playoffs on the Vanacker goal.
The Bulldogs looked to expand their lead at 8:53 as O’Brien intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and made the breakaway pass to Vanacker, only for MacKenzie to make a great pad save. Less than two minutes after the MacKenzie save, the 67’s tied the game. Left winger Luca Pinelli caused the turnover from Bulldogs right winger Nick Lardis near the Brantford blue line. Pinelli shot the puck five-hole past Bulldogs netminder Drobac at 12:58.
Late in the period, the Bulldogs penalty kill averted further damage, keeping the score tied after twenty minutes of play. The Bulldogs penalty kill units have been a success story in the series, successfully killing off nine of ten Ottawa power play opportunities.
Brantford’s misfortunes continued in the second period. Just thirty seconds in, Bulldogs defenceman Adrian Rebelo lost the puck to 67’s right winger Bradley Horner. Horner then passed the puck to centreman Braeden Kressler, who fired the puck right past Drobac for their first lead of the game.
The Bulldogs responded at the 5:12 mark. Defenceman Cedrickson Okitundu set up the play on the left side of the Ottawa zone, passing the puck to Vanacker, who shot the puck at Ottawa netminder MacKenzie from outside the left circle, only to be tipped at the crease by O’Brien for his first career OHL playoff goal.
With seven minutes left in the middle frame, the Bulldogs’ blue-line turnover woes continued to haunt them. After the Bulldogs won the faceoff, centreman Jake O’Brien lost the puck near the Bulldogs’ blue line. 67’s right winger Gerrior got the puck, passed to centreman Jacob Maillet, and found the wide-open left winger Luca Pinelli. Pinelli tucked the puck through the left pad of Bulldogs netminder Drobac for his second of the game and a 3-2 Ottawa lead. Ottawa doubled its lead before the end of the period, courtesy of a cross-ice feed from left winger Brady Stonehouse to right winger Caden Kelly, who fired the puck past Drobac at the 12:02 mark.
The Bulldogs began the third period on the power play. Despite generating four shots, they were unable to solve netminder Collin MacKenzie. With the Bulldogs going 0 for 2 with the man advantage in this game, they have gone ten straight power plays without a goal in the last seven periods (3-for-19 overall). The Bulldogs kept the pressure on the Ottawa defence throughout the period but were hampered by timely saves from the 67’s netminder.
Ottawa iced the game with 1:21 remaining, as Braden Kressler notched his second of the game with the empty netter from centre ice.
Bulldogs netminder Matteo Drobac kept the game close with another quality performance, stopping 26 out of 30 Ottawa 67’s shots in a losing effort.
