Higgins Lifts Bulldogs Over Griffins
January 8, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release
HAMILTON, ON - Chris Higgins scored two goals and led the Hamilton Bulldogs to a 5-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins at Copps Coliseum on Friday night.
The Bulldogs record through 38 games now stands at 15 wins, 16 losses, 4 overtime losses and 3 overtime losses.
Bulldogs defenceman James Sanford opened the scoring on the power play at 7:54 of the first period. Sanford corralled a rebound and backhanded a shot past Griffins netminder Joey MacDonald. Tomas Plekanec and Marc-Andre Thinel recorded assists on the goal.
The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead when Chris Higgins scored his seventh goal of the season at 4:01 of the second period. Corey Locke's low shot initially beat MacDonald, but hit the post and went to Higgins at the side of the net. Higgins made no mistake and buried the puck into the empty net. Dan Jancevski added the other assist on the Bulldogs second power-play goal of the game.
Forward Steve Ott increased the Bulldogs' lead to three goals when he tallied his ninth goal of the season at 12:14 of the second period. Gavin Morgan and Trevor Daley assisted on Hamilton's third goal of the game.
Forward Todd Robinson put the Griffins on the board with his tenth goal of the season at 17:56 of the second period.
Grand Rapids goaltender Drew MacIntyre replaced Joey MacDonald between the pipes for the start of the third period.
Early in the third period, the Bulldogs took a commanding 5-1 lead. Higgins scored his second goal of the game at 1:54 of the third period with Daley earning the lone assist. Less than two minutes later, Corey Locke scored his team leading twelfth goal of the season. Andrew Archer and Raitis Ivanans also added assists on the goal.
Griffins forward Ryan Barnes made the score 5-2 with his second goal of the season at 6:59 of the third period.
Bulldogs defenceman James Sanford now has two goals in three games with the Bulldogs this season and is tied for the team lead amongst defenceman.
Bulldogs goaltender Yann Danis stopped 25 of 27 shots, while earning his eleventh win of the season. Griffins starting back-stopper Joey MacDonald made 20 saves on 23 shots before being replaced by Drew MacIntyre. MacIntyre was beat by the first two shots he faced but finished the game with 6 saves on 8 shots.
The Hamilton Bulldogs next home game will take place TOMORROW - Saturday, January 8th at 7:00 p.m. when they host the St. John's Maple Leafs at Copps Coliseum. Bulldogs fans can purchase their tickets at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, at all Ticketmaster outlets, by calling Ticketmaster at (905) 527-7666 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca.
American Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2005
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- Houston nemeses Gamache, Finley lead Ads to 2-0 win - Houston Aeros
- Rampage reassign Swanson to Texas - San Antonio Rampage
- Penguins reassign Fata to Nailers - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Rampage Game Day - San Antonio Rampage
- Aeros in matinee action in Milwaukee - Houston Aeros
- Higgins Lifts Bulldogs Over Griffins - Hamilton Bulldogs
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