Sports stats



OHL Brantford Bulldogs

Bulldogs Take Bite Out Of Generals In 5-2 Home Opener Win

October 7, 2023 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Brantford Bulldogs News Release


BRANTFORD, ONTARIO. The Brantford Bulldogs opened the home half of their schedule welcoming OHL hockey back to the Brantford Civic Centre for the first time since 1984, hosting their east division rivals the Oshawa Generals.

The opening frame brought lots of energy not only by the sold-out crowd but also from both teams, clearly sensing the gravity of the moment. 3,041 fans packed the newly renovated Brantford Civic Centre and brought the heat for the home opener. Oshawa opened the scoring at 11:40 with a tip in from Stuart Rolofs, striding across the Bulldogs net for his 2nd of the season assisted by Dylan Roobroeck, and Ryder Mclntyre taking some of the energy briefly out of the sold out crowd. Brantford piled up shots on Generals netminder Jacob Oster while amping up the physicality but ended the opening 20 with Oshawa leading 1-0.

The second period was all Bulldogs. The first Bulldogs goal in Brantford came on the power play as Florian Xhekaj recorded his 2nd of the season, jamming it over the pad of Jacob Oster at 2:58 assisted off a brilliant steal and feed from Ben Bujold knotting the game 1-1. The Bulldogs then faced a major penalty as Florian Xhekaj was ejected from the game on a slew-foot posing a challenge to the hosts. Thanks to goaltender Matteo Drobac, the Bulldogs didn't just survive but thrived in on the penalty kill, scoring a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 opportunity. Wray's shot off the left wing side was stopped by Oster but the rebound came right to Ben Bujold who deflcted it off his skate to make it 2-1 Bulldogs at 14:02. The Bulldogs continued their push in the middle frame as newly named captain, Lawson Sherk shovelled the puck on a wrap-around for his 2nd of the season giving the Bulldogs a 3-1 advantage at 19:53. The period ended with templers flaring and matching roughing minors as after 40 minutes the Bulldogs held a 3-1 lead.

The final frame continued to bring the energy, but the visitors struck first. The Generals cut the Bulldogs lead with a 4-on-4 goal at 0:34 scored by Beckett Sennecke, his 2nd of the season, from Luca Marrelli and Ben Danford giving the Generals life. The Bulldogs bounced right back with Nick Lardis stealing a Rasmus Kumpulainen out pass and ripping a shot over Oster's pad to score his 3rd of the season at 3:58 giving the Bulldogs back a 2-goal. Lardis closed the scoring in the final frame as Patrick Thomas stole a puck at the offensive blueline and with a perfect pass found Lardis at the bottom of the right circle for his 2nd of the game & 4th of the season to push the Bulldogs lead to 5-2. As the clock ticked to zero and the Brantford fans rose to their feet, the Bulldogs closed their home opener with a 5-2 victory, opening their new era in Brantford.

The Brantford Bulldogs will return to action on the road again tomorrow facing the Mississauga Steelheads at 2:00PM at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Missisauga.

Check out the Brantford Bulldogs Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Ontario Hockey League message board...

Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 7, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central