Jiricek & Dennis Set New Bulldogs Marks in 5-3 Victory over Colts
Published on March 5, 2026 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Brantford Bulldogs News Release
BARRIE, ONTARIO. For the final time in the regular season, the Brantford Bulldogs, leading the East division, squared off with the Central division leading Barrie Colts at Sadlon Arena in Barrie.
Controlling the early part of the opening frame, the Bulldogs raced out to a 10-0 shots on goal advantage, peppering the net of Ben Hrebik up until the 9:20 mark when their penalty kill was tested for the first time. A pair of sliding stops from Ryerson Leenders, including a brilliant right to left move to take an angle away from Kashawn Aitcheson buoyed the Bulldogs offense who got to work following the kill. A little bit of history was made at 15:05 with Marek Vanacker laying the puck along for Adam Benak who dropped it to the blueline for an on-rushing Adam Jiricek. With a dart of a wrist shot, Jiricek beat a sprawling Hrebik for his 16th of the season, breaking Nathan Staios' single season record for goals by a Bulldogs defenseman set in the 2021-22 season. Just 54- seconds later, Phillip Govedaris forced a pair of turnovers in the Barrie zone, taking possession of the second one and finding Caleb Malhotra in the left circle where he and & Cooper Dennis had a short distance 2-on-1. Baiting Hrebik down, Malhotra swung the puck cross-slot to Dennis for the first year Bulldog to rifle in his 31st of the season at 15:59 giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 advantage. The Bulldogs continued to pressure right to the buzzer with Adam Benak on a tremendous shift creating 3 scoring chances that the Bulldogs came within just inches of converting but taking a 2-0 lead down the tunnel through 20-minutes.
The second period was a period of two halves, it was a pair of early penalties that stung the Bulldogs with Gabriel Frasca being called for a controversial high-stick just 35-seconds into the middle frame upending another strong Bulldogs shift. The Bulldogs navigated through the majority of the power-play before Brad Gardiner fired a shot across the net mouth to be tipped by Mason Zebeski for his 18th of the season at 2:13. After Jake O'Brien took a high hit from Calvin Crombie on the end wall, Zach Sandhu stepped up to defend the captain, but in doing so was given the 2-5-10 for instigating putting the Bulldogs back to the power-play where Parker von Richter struck on a screen shot for his 10th of the year to tie the game at 4:43. After the Bulldogs had a glorious chance with Ben Hrebik down and the Bulldogs trying to squeeze it through a crowd, the puck was banked out through neutral ice where Emil Hemming found it and carried off the right side and fired in the right circle through Leenders five-hole for his 24th of the season at 11:26 giving the Colts their first lead of the game. From there the Bulldogs took back over through a pair of hard-work goals. At 16:57, Adam Benak laid the puck across the ice from the right to the left for Jake O'Brien who looked to set Marek Vanacker in front of the goal. The puck deflected off a sliding Colts defender and Adam Jiricek stepped down to rip in his 2nd of the game & 17th of the season, tying the game 3- 3. The hard work continued on late in the frame with Vladimir Dravecky firing the puck to the front of the goal for Jake O'Brien to bounce on for Adam Benak who jammed in his 24th of the year at 18:08 to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead down the tunnel through 40 minutes.
The final frame was controlled in pace of play by the Bulldogs who ended up out shooting the Colts 19-6 in the period. The Bulldogs continued to siege the goal of Ben Hrebik who came up with important stops on both Adam Benak & Luca Testa over the final frame, while Ryerson Leenders guided away all 6 he faced in the final frame with a tremendous late stop on Cole Beaudoin to keep the Bulldogs ahead by a goal. At 19:03, the puck was battled off the left-wing wall to the middle of the ice for Cooper Dennis who fired down the frozen for his 32nd of the season, the most ever by a 1st year Bulldog, to assure the Bulldogs a 5-3 victory and a hold of 1st place in the Eastern Conference.
The Brantford Bulldogs return to action on Friday night, March 6th, hosting the Saginaw Spirit for the only time of the 2025-26 season with puck drop expected for just after 7:00pm.
Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 5, 2026
- Game Preview: Soo Greyhounds at Kitchener Rangers - March 6th, 2026 - Kitchener Rangers
- Rye Stops 41 in Shutout Win over 67's - Peterborough Petes
- Spirit Erase Four-Goal Deficit in Shootout Win over IceDogs Thursday Night - Saginaw Spirit
- Jiricek & Dennis Set New Bulldogs Marks in 5-3 Victory over Colts - Brantford Bulldogs
- Generals Rally in Third to Defeat Battalion - Oshawa Generals
- Game Day - March 6 - OS at GUE - Guelph Storm
- Attack Prepare for Key Matchups with Key Playoff Implications - Owen Sound Attack
- Saturday, March 7th Is Timbits Hockey Day Sponsored by Tim Hortons - Guelph Storm
- Game Preview: Saginaw Spirit at Niagara IceDogs - Saginaw Spirit
- Generals Begin Week-Long Road Trip in North Bay - Oshawa Generals
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