Bulldogs Beat AHL-Leading IceCaps 4-3
February 17, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release
HAMILTON, ON - The Hamilton Bulldogs scored three goals in the first period and stopped the St. John's IceCaps' second-period comeback to defeat the best team in the league by a final score of 4-3.
The 'Dogs took an early lead at 3:39 in the first period when Joonas Nattinen scored his third of the season following a double-effort in front of the IceCaps' net. Nattinen snapping a 6-game pointless streak and a 19-game goalless streak on the play. Just 43 seconds later, Nattinen made it 2-0 Bulldogs on his second goal of the game, with Aaron Palushaj earning his second assist of the game. Then, at 7:55 into the period and while playing 4-on-4 hockey, Mark Mitera sniped a shot from the point to beat IceCaps starting netminder Edward Pasquale, who was subsequently replaced by David Aebischer. Mitera's second of the season was his first point in 18 games and his first goal in 28 games.
The Bulldogs continued their charge in the second period. Philip DeSimone scored his ninth of the season at 2:22 after Andreas Engqvist carried the puck to the front of the IceCaps net on the power play. St. John's scored its first of the game at 11:45 when Kevin Clark deflected Brett Festerling's high slot shot just inside the crossbar behind Hamilton goaltender Nathan Lawson. Shawn Weller continued the comeback for the IceCaps, deflecting Paul Postma's shot to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 4-2. Postma then scored his 11th of the season on the power play to bring the IceCaps within one goal of tying the game.
But the 'Dogs held on for a 4-3 victory over the AHL-leading IceCaps, with St. John's edging Hamilton 26-25 on the shot clock. This was the first time this season that the Bulldogs scored 3 goals in the first period.
The Bulldogs' continue their 3-in-3 weekend TOMORROW, Saturday, February 18th, 2012 when they take on the Rockford IceHogs at 7 p.m. at Copps Coliseum before travelling to Rochester on Sunday, February 19th, 2012 to face the Americans at 5:05 p.m. at Blue Cross Arena. All Hamilton Bulldogs games can be heard live on AM 820 CHAM or on www.hamiltonbulldogs.com, or seen live on www.ahllive.com beginning with the Pioneer Pre-Game Show 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.
Single game tickets for the 2011-2012 season are available at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, any Ticketmaster Outlet, online at www.ticketmaster.ca or through charge-by-phone at 1-855-872-5000.
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