Betts Brilliant Earning Fronts 2-1 Shootout Win in Brantford
OHL Brantford Bulldogs

Betts Brilliant Earning Fronts 2-1 Shootout Win in Brantford

Published on February 5, 2026 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Brantford Bulldogs News Release


BRANTFORD, ONTARIO. The Brantford Bulldogs ended a four-game homestand on Wednesday night playing host to the East Division rival Kingston Frontenacs in the fourth meeting between the two teams of the season.

Gabriel Frasca helped get the Bulldogs off to a quick start at 8:29 of the opening frame. Off a puck wrapped around the end wall, Frontenacs goaltender Gavin Betts came out to make a play on the puck. Jake O'Brien flew below the goal line to block the netminder's forehand option forcing Betts to turn to his backhand. Betts sent it right to the stick of Frasca at the side of the goal to backhand in his 19th of the season and 1st as a Bulldog to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. David Egorov was extremely sharp in the opening frame, turning aside all 13 shots he faced to keep the Bulldogs ahead through 20 minutes.

Gavin Betts took over the middle frame for the Frontenacs, a period in which they were outshot by a 15-3 margin. Betts came up with a trio of point-blank stops on Marek Vanacker along with net front stops on Jake O'Brien, Adam Benak and Jett Luchanko. Despite furious pressure right to the final whistle of the period, the game was held at just 1-0. A bit of a scary moment for the Bulldogs late in the second period saw Alex Misiak catch Ben Danford with a stick to the side of the head as Misiak was skating along the blueline and Danford was moving forward causing the Bulldogs defenseman to go down to the ice holding his head. Zachary Sandhu came to his teammate's aid dropping the gloves with Misiak but following a review of an initial 5-minute major penalty call, the penalty was reassessed to two minutes, while the Bulldogs lost Sandhu for 17-minutes on the instigator call.

In good news for the Bulldogs, Danford returned for the third period and showed no signs of injury through the rest of the game. The Bulldogs appeared to have struck for a 2-0 lead early in the third period with Charlie Paquette feeding down the left-wing wall for Jake O'Brien who broke off the boards and skated into the left circle, feeding Edison Engle in the slot for a one-time blast that looked like the defenseman's 3rd of the season, all to be overturned on a coach's challenge for an offside. The Frontenacs built off that 2nd life in the final frame and their goaltender's handiwork paid off at 8:55 as Robin Kuzma sent Nolan Snyder forward in a 2-on-1 with Maleek McGowan where Snyder picked the top corner on Egorov for his 10th of the season tying the game 1-1 and forcing the game to an extra frame.

Following a penalty with just over 20-seconds to go in regulation to Cooper Dennis, the Bulldogs started overtime down 4-on-3 but with David Egorov standing tall in the crease and a series of shot blocks from Zachary Sandhu killed of the penalty. Right after the Bulldogs got back to even strength, Caleb Malhotra was called for a trip, putting the Bulldogs short for the 2nd time in overtime. The Frontenacs appeared to have won the game on a net front tip from Aleks Kulemin but again on a review, the goal as overturned for an offside. The Bulldogs managed to kill the 2nd penalty and earn an offensive chance late with Jake O'Brien beating one defender inside to the front of the net but had the puck poked away at the last second. To a shootout to decide the 2nd point, Aleks Kulemin & Adam Kelly notched markers while Gavin Betts stopped both Bulldogs shooters to give the Fronts a hard earned 2-1 win.

The Brantford Bulldogs return to action for a two-game Eastern road swing on Saturday, February 7th in Ottawa at 3:00pm & Sunday, February 8th in Kingston at 2:00pm.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 5, 2026


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