Bulldogs Comeback in Niagara Falls Short in Overtime
Published on January 18, 2026 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Brantford Bulldogs News Release
ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIO. The Brantford Bulldogs closed out their three-in-three weekend on Sunday afternoon, paying a visit to the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines for a meeting with the IceDogs.
Sunday afternoon's game marked a major milestone as Charlie Paquette skated in his 300th career game, having already become a key addition to the Brantford lineup. Captain Jake O'Brien made his return to the Bulldogs lineup for the first time since December 19th, but the Bulldogs were without the services of Adam Benak who was given a maintenance day on Sunday after having been the target of aggression in the previous two legs of the weekend set.
The first period was all about Ryerson Leenders in the matinee tilt. Early in the opening frame, Hayden Reid found himself with the puck at the bottom of the left circle, feeding across the net front for Ethan Czata where the Bulldogs netminder made an explosive right to left to steal a shot from the IceDogs captain with a brilliant glove save. Approaching the midway point of the period, Ryan Roobroeck collected the puck through the left circle only to have Ryerson Leenders fly across his crease and deny the IceDogs sniper with a shoulder stop. The Bulldogs best chance of the frame came with a great set from Jake O'Brien to Cooper Dennis in the right circle, his shot was denied by Charlie Robertson while his defense was just able to clear the puck before Marek Vanacker could jump on it. Ryerson Leenders came up with one more 10- bell stop in the opening frame, right before the buzzer denying Ethan Czata a second time on a breakaway with a blocker stop to keep the game scoreless through 20-minutes.
Despite carrying the play in the middle frame, the scoring was tilted against the Bulldogs.
Niagara struck first 1:34 in on the power-play, after Jett Luchanko won the draw to Owen Protz, the defenseman's clearing attempt was knocked down at the line by Haoxi Wang whose pass deflected to an open Ethan Czata recording his 17th of the season to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
After furious Bulldogs pressure at 13:47, Chase Hull was able to jump on a loose puck and carry on the left-wing side rocketing a shot off the back bar for his 9th of the season and a 2-0 IceDogs lead. The Bulldogs cut into the lead at 15:55, with Edison Engle controlling the puck out high and delivering a feed to Jeremy Freeman that the rookie hammered towards goal with Parker Holmes hopping onto the rebound to collect his 6th of the season making it a 2-1 game.
Against the run of play, Ryan Roobroeck picked off a Cam Hankai out pass, the IceDogs gunner carried over the line on the left side and rifled a shot from the top of the slot to notch his 23rd of the season to make it a 3-1 game through 40 minutes.
The Bulldogs mounted another comeback in the third period, spending the majority with puck possession in the Niagara zone. The offense came alive at 9:47 with Marek Vanacker digging a puck loose for Jake O'Brien that the captain shovelled to the blueline for Vladimir Dravecky.
The defenseman sent a slap pass back to the captain at the bottom of the circle for O'Brien to record his 12th of the season pulling the Bulldogs to within a goal at 3-2. The game was knotted at 14:20 on a 3-on-2 rush as Adam Jiricek drove the middle, feeding left for Marek Vanacker who went across the offensive zone for Cooper Dennis to net his 24th of the season, equaling terms 3-3, and erasing a two-goal deficit to earn the Bulldogs a point as the game went to overtime. Just 13-seconds into the extra session, Ryan Roobroeck jumped on the puck in the right-wing corner after a collision between Adam Jiricek and Haoxi Wang, sending a shot from a sharp angle over Ryerson Leenders' shoulder to give the IceDogs the extra point in a 4 -3 overtime loss for Brantford.
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