Generals Fall Short to League-Leading Bulldogs
Published on February 18, 2026 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Oshawa Generals News Release
Oshawa, On. - The Oshawa Generals dropped 4-2 to the tough Brantford Bulldogs Wednesday night in the first of their three games this week.
Tonight marked both Lucas Moore's and Aiden O'Donnell's first games back in Brantford since being acquired by the Generals in late-October. Moore was given a tribute by the Bulldogs prior to puck drop, as was O'Donnell midway through the first.
Brantford got off to the hot start with the game's first seven shots and a lot of o-zone time early. They would strike first with Jake O'Brien poking home a rebound in the crease for his 20th of the season.
Oshawa picked up the pace and caught up in the shot totals to finish the opening frame strong, but still entered the second down one after being outshot 10-8 total in the first.
Both sides traded goals 31 seconds apart to begin the second with Nikolas Rossetto first giving Brantford a two-goal lead with a wicked shot off the rush. Porter Byrd-Leitner would respond for Oshawa with a rocket of a one-timer from the point to cut the deficit right back to one.
There was offense aplenty throughout the middle period with the two teams going back-and-forth and combining for 34 total shots in the second. Aiden O'Donnell would tie it late in the period against his former squad after he turned and ripped one upstairs from the far circle.
Jaden Cholette put on a clinic in period two, stopping 19 of 20 Brantford shots, to limit the Bulldogs to just a goal - leading to the Generals drawing even before the end of the middle 20.
The Bulldogs came out flying to start the third, and after getting the game's first and only power play and cycling it around in the Oshawa end, O'Brien netted his second of the game with a perfect shot upstairs past Cholette from the slot.
Soon after, Brantford added to their lead with Charlie Paquette pulling off a nice deflection in front of Cholette to restore the two-goal lead. The fourth Bulldog goal would put it out of reach for Oshawa as Brantford limited them to six shots in the third to close it out.
On the heels of a three-point game from Jake O'Brien, who is now up to 15 against Oshawa this season, the Bulldogs move to 39 wins on the year and extend their Eastern Conference lead to a six-point gap over the Barrie Colts. They also move to six points ahead of Kitchener for tops in the entire league.
The Generals were able to rally from a two-goal deficit once in this game but could not a second time in the third. Jaden Cholette gave it his all with 41 stops, earning the third star of the game, but the Brantford offense was simply too much to handle.
The Generals close out their brief road stint in Erie against the Otters Friday night before returning home to host the Kingston Frontenacs Sunday evening.
1st Period Scoring:
BFD 1st Goal: Jake O'Brien (20) from Jett Luchanko and Zach Sandhu at 8:38
2nd Period Scoring:
BFD 2nd Goal: Nikolas Rossetto (5) from Jake O'Brien at 2:11
OSH 1st Goal: Porter Byrd-Leitner (8) from Vadim Smirnov and Sam Roberts at 2:42
OSH 2nd Goal: Aiden O'Donnell (11) from Ben Cormier and Matthew Wang at 17:46
3rd Period Scoring:
BFD 3rd Goal (PP): Jake O'Brien (21) from Jett Luchanko and Caleb Malhotra at 6:50
BFD 4th Goal: Charlie Paquette (26) from Cooper Dennis and Caleb Malhotra at 11:51
OSH Power Play: 0/0
BFD Power Play: 1/1
Jaden Cholette (OSH): 41 saves on 45 shots
David Egorov (BFD): 26 saves on 28 shots
Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 18, 2026
- Generals Fall Short to League-Leading Bulldogs - Oshawa Generals
- Prospect Pipeline: Connor Haffner - Niagara IceDogs
- The Road Ahead: February 18th - 22nd - Brantford Bulldogs
- Game Day - February 18 - GUE at SAR - Guelph Storm
- Spitfires' Defenceman Jakub Fibigr Commits to Ohio State University - Windsor Spitfires
- Petes to Host Indigenous Heritage Night Presented by Crowe's Gas - Peterborough Petes
- Generals, Bulldogs Square off in Mid-Week Tilt - Oshawa Generals
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