OHL Ontario Hockey League

Haight Scores 2, Spirit Hold Off the Bulldogs 5-3

Published on March 18, 2023 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL) News Release


SAGINAW, MICHIGAN. The Hamilton Bulldogs travelled to Saginaw on Saturday night to wrap up their Michigan road trip, taking on the Spirit. The goaltending matchup featured a battle of the 29s, Andrew Oke for Saginaw and Tristan Malboeuf for Hamilton. The opening 6 minutes of the contest did not feature a whistle, that was until the high quality chance that came off the stick of Saginaw's James Guo from the hashmarks, but Malboeuf kicked out his right pad denying the effort and gloving down the point shot that followed Minutes later after another huge stretch without a whistle, Sahil Panwar found Nick Lardis in behind the defenseman for a breakaway chance that he rung off the goal post and out, leaving the game scoreless The first penalty of the game was awarded to Sag inaw rookie Michael Misa for tripping Artem Grushnikov. 1:05 into the penalty, Olivier Savard joined Misa in the box, giving the Bulldogs a 5 on 3 for 55 seconds. Andrew Oke made back to back spectacular saves off of Lawson Sherk and Nick Lardis getting hi s team a much needed whistle. Despite the 5 on 3 expiring, Sahil Panwar received a dish from Cole Brown and wired it over Oke for his 29th of the season opening the scoring for Hamilton. The lead only lasted for 2 minutes however, as Olivier Savard dished a net front pass to PJ Forgione who tipped it past the unsuspecting Malboeuf to tie the game at 1 1 with 47 seconds left in the period. That didn't stop Artem Grushnikov from regaining his teams lead just 17 seconds after Saginaw tied the game, blasting a slap shot from the point for his 8th of the campaign with just 30 seconds left in the period. And with that, the Bulldogs went to the intermission leading 2-1 on the scoreboard, and 12-9 on the shot clock.

Tristan Malboeuf opened up the middle frame denying Misa point blank on a cross crease opportunity. Noah Nelson earned a breakaway shortly after but was turned aside by Oke. Hunter Haight knotted the game up once again just over 90 seconds into the period, scooping up the puck after a Bulldogs turno ver and chipping it over the shoulder of Malboeuf for his 20th of the season. Fast forward to 13:18 on the clock, Dean Loukus was called for a tripping minor giving Hamilton their third powerplay chance of the night. 29 seconds into the man advantage, Luca s Moore took a hooking call to prevent a breakaway chance send ing the game to 4 on 4. Loukus' penalty expired and the Spirit had a brief powerplay. Despite Mitchell Smith and Luke MacNamara earning golden net front chances, Tristan Malboeuf could not be b eat and the game remained tied at 2. The Spirit couldn't stay out of the penalty box, as Luke MacNamara was called for hauling down Patrick Thomas sending the Bulldogs to another powerplay. The Bulldogs had a difficult time getting set up on the man advant age as the only opportunity of the 2 minutes was a point shot wrister that Oke handled with no issues. Saginaw controlled the next minutes of the period, hemming the exhausted Bulldogs in their defensive zone until Malboeuf was eventually able to get his glove down on the puck. With 2:06 left in the period, Lucas Moore was caught for hooking again sending Saginaw to the powerplay The Spirit capitalized off the stick of Calem Magnone, giving his team their first lead of the night headed into the final period. Shots after 2 were 24-16 for Saginaw.

16:51 on the clock in the third, Masen Wray was sent to the box for hooking and the Spirit had a chance to double up their lead. Saginaw's powerplay made no mistake with Sebastien Gervais earning his 10 th goal of the season, making it a 4-2 game. With 10 minutes left in the contest, Nic Sima went to the penalty box and the Bulldogs needed to capitalize. Nick Lardis came very close to getting the Bulldogs to within 1, but Andrew Oke shut the door. Fast forward to 5:39 left, Lucas Moore dribbled a point shot towards the net which deflected off the skate of Mitchell Smith and past Oke turning it into a 4-3 game. Tristan Malboeuf put on a clinic in the dying minutes of the game keeping his team down by just 1. Roberto Mancini went to the box for cross checking with 3:55 remaining, and this was Hamilton's chance. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they could not find the tying goal, and with 60 seconds left, Malboeuf raced to the bench for an extra attacker. Hunter Haight would put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs sending one into the empty net, sealing the game for the Spirit by a final score of 5-3 Shots totaled 36-30 for Saginaw.

The Bulldogs are back on the road next Thursday night, wrapping up their regular season by travelling to North Bay on the 23rd and Sudbury on the 24th. The puck drops at 7:00pm at North Bay Memorial Gardens.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2023


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