Bulldogs rally for overtime win

Published on January 3, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release


HAMILTON, ON - The Hamilton Bulldogs overcame a pair of two-goal deficits and got back in the win column with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Iowa Stars on Wednesday night at Copps Coliseum. With the win, Hamilton's record improves to 22-13-1-1.

The Stars opened the scoring when Scott May fired a shot in the slot past Bulldog goaltender Yann Danis at the 3:22 mark of the first period. Nicklas Grossman and Marius Holtet assisted on May's second goal of the season.

Iowa then scored just 1:15 into the second period for a 2-0 lead when Janos Vas took a pass from behind the net and got away a quick shot for his fourth goal of the season.

Hamilton responded just 26 seconds later to cut Iowa's deficit to 2-1. Duncan Milroy tipped in Andrew Archer's shot from the right boards near the top of the circle. Corey Locke also earned an assist on Milroy's team-leading 16th goal of the season.

The Bulldogs went down by two goals again at 6:20 of the middle frame when an errant pass by Iowa's Mark Fistric deflected off a Hamilton defenseman and behind a surprised Danis to give the Stars a 3-1 lead. The unassisted shorthanded goal was Fistic's first of the season.

Andrei Kostitsyn then notched his 12th goal of the season at the 14:55 mark of the second period to bring the 'Dogs within a goal at 3-2. After taking a pass from Mikhail Grabovski, Kostitsyn snapped a shot past former Bulldog goaltender Dan Ellis, scoring his 100th career AHL point.

The Bulldogs tied the game at 3-3 with 6:04 left in the third period when Mikhail Grabovski scored on a breakaway after fending off an Iowa defender and slipping the puck along the ice on the glove side for his 10th goal of the season. Kostitsyn sprung Grabovski at the blueline to earn one assist, while Eric Manlow also registered a helper on the game-tying scoring play.

The game went to overtime when Maxim Lapierre scored the game-winning goal at 2:29 of the extra frame with a hard wrist shot from the right side off a two-on-one break after using Francis Lemieux as a decoy on the play. The unassisted game-winner was Lapierre's ninth goal of the season.

Danis stopped 19 of the 22 shots he faced for Hamilton, recording his 11th win of the season, while Ellis made 21 saves on 25 shots for Iowa and suffered the loss.

Game Notes: Duncan Milroy played his 238th contest, passing Jason Chimera for the Bulldogs' franchise lead in all-time games played. Milroy's first period goal tied him for 10th all-time in Bulldog goals.

The Bulldogs next game is on Friday, January 5th at 7:30 p.m. against the Iowa Stars at Copps Coliseum. Tickets for all 'Dogs home games (except home game #32) are available at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, any Ticketmaster outlet, online at www.ticketmaster.ca, or through charge-by-phone at 905-527-7666. Fans can listen to the game on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, 820 CHAM "The Legend," beginning with the Park's Furniture Pre-Game Show at 7:10 p.m. Fans can also listen or watch at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com by clicking on the 'B2 Networks' or '820 CHAM' icon on the 'Dogs website.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 3, 2007


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