Luck was not on the Bulldogs side as they dropped a 7-2 decision to the Mississauga Steelheads on Sunday, March 17, 2024.
Right from the start, the Bulldogs were in for a tough time against Steelheads netminder Jack Ivankovic. The Bulldogs offence peppered the rookie netminder with six straight shots in the first five minutes of the opening frame, but Ivankovic stood tall.
Around the halfway point of the first period, it was the Steelheads offence who found good luck. At 8:07, right winger Gabriel Chiarot’s shot squeezed through the pads of Bulldogs netminder David Egorov for a 1-0 lead.
The Steelheads continued to find paydirt thirty seconds later. Centreman Jack Van Volsen initiated a two-on-one breakaway from their own zone before firing the puck past the glove side of Egorov for a quick 2-0 Steelheads lead. Left winger Angus MacDonell tried to increase the Steelheads lead before end of the period, but the Bulldogs netminder Egorov made an excellent glove save. The Bulldogs rookie netminder started shaky, but finished the period with eleven saves on goal.
After the first twenty minutes of play, the Steelheads controlled the pace for the remaining 12 minutes, outshooting the Bulldogs 15-11 and led 2-0.
In the second period, the Bulldogs were looking to respond. In similarity with the opening minutes, the Bulldogs offence poured on the shots at Ivankovic, but to no avail. The Steelheads continued to have good fortunes late in the period, this time with the man advantage.
It began with 6:50 left, with defenceman Chas Sharpe and centreman Luke Misa setting up the play inside the Bulldogs blue line. Sharpe would then exchange passes from right winger Adam Zidlincky, with Sharpe shooting the puck, getting tipped by left winger Mason Zebeski in front of the Bulldogs goal and past the netminder Egorov for a 3-0 lead.
The Bulldogs would put the pressure right after the faceoff, as centreman Florian Xhekaj tried to shoot off the rebound in front of the Steelheads goal, but the netminder Ivankovic kept the Bulldogs from scoring with a great pad save at the crease.
Mississauga would add one more with the man advantage before the end of the middle frame. Moments after Bulldogs left winger Lawson Sherk had his stick knocked off by defenceman Jakub Fibigr, Steelheads capitalized with the modified five-on-three. Centreman Lucas Karamis passed the puck to the defenceman Sharpe, who then shot the puck that was stopped by Bulldogs netminder Egorov, but Left winger Zebeski put in the rebound for his second of the game.
The second period ended with Bulldogs outshot the Steelheads 11-6, but trailed 4-0.
The Steelheads continued to capitalize on the Bulldogs misfortunes in the third period. For the third straight time in the contest, the Steelheads scored on the powerplay, this time courtesy of the left winger MacDonell at 21 seconds, giving the Steelheads a commanding 5-0 lead.
Brantford solved Jack Ivankovic and got on the board eighteen seconds later. Left winger Marek Vanacker made a quick pass to the centreman Xhekaj, passed the puck to defenceman Adrian Rebelo, who fired the puck past the Steelheads netminder for his fifth of the season. Xhekaj and Vanacker with the assists.
Mississauga restored their five-goal lead at the 4:25 mark, as the right winger Zidlincky’s shot trickled past the right shoulder of the Bulldogs netminder Egorov. Steelheads added one more with 7:23 remaining, scoring their fourth power play goal of the contest from defenceman Chas Sharpe, who tallied his fourth point of the game.
With over three minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs notched one back. Defenceman Daniel Chen dished the puck to centreman Jake O’Brien, who then passed to right winger Calvin Crombie who shot the puck past the sprawling Ivankovic for his 13th of the season.
