More History for Malhotra in OT Defeat in North Bay
Published on March 12, 2026 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Brantford Bulldogs News Release
NORTH BAY, ON. Making their longest, by distance, road trip of the season, the Brantford Bulldogs opened a three-game northern swing at the Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens on Thursday night paying a visit to the North Bay Battalion.
The Bulldogs began the good night with good news on the health front, receiving back the services of Parker Holmes who returned following after being out for the better part of five weeks.
Ryerson Leenders was sharp early, turning aside a short break opportunity from Lirim Amidovski as part of 9 opening frame stops. The Bulldogs went to the power-play just prior to the midway mark of the frame and saw a bit of power-play perfection at 10:48. Adam Jiricek held the puck at the middle of the blueline spreading it onto the left side for Adam Benak who took a stride through the left-circle. While baiting the Battalion defenders into believing he was shooting, Benak sent a no-look pass across the ice to the right circle where Caleb Malhotra was stationed and converted his 29th of the season to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs continued to pile pressure on Jack Lisson's goal with the line of Parker Holmes, Jeremy Freeman & Nik Rossetto controlling the puck in the offensive end for nearly 90-seconds and the Bulldogs pressure would be rewarded late in the frame. Transitioning from the defensive zone, Caleb Malhotra laid the puck left for Philip Govedaris who carried over the blueline before returning the puck to Malhotra who spun it across the front of the net for a hard-charging Cooper Dennis. Seeing the puck deflect off his skate and over the shoulder of Jack Lisson, Dennis collected his 33rd of the season at 19:33, while Caleb Malhotra set a new Bulldogs rookie record for assists notching his 52nd of the year on the play, passing the record set by Jake O'Brien in the Bulldogs inaugural Brantford season, 2023 -24 and giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.
The middle frame was the Ryerson Leenders show and began just over a minute in with a series of 4 stops as the Battalion came out for the second playing with clear desperation as they try to gain home ice advantage in the Eastern Conference playoff structure. Leenders continued on in the second period denying Sebastian Gervais in close quarters, while Ben Danford & Zack Sandhu combined to deny the Battalion an opportunity at an open goal. The Bulldogs weren't without their chances in the second period with Charlie Paquette settling a puck in the slot and dealing right to the circle for Luca Testa who hammered a shot that Jack Lisson had to turn aside while Adam Benak handled down a pass from the right- wing wall from Jake O'Brien where Benak eluded a pair of defenders, but Lisson again kept the Battalion in striking distance. Late in the second period, Ethan Procyszyn sent the puck to the left point just over the blueline for Bronson Ride whose shot deflected on the way to the net front and bounced off Ryerson Leenders' arm and into the goal for his 4th of the season at 17:06 cutting the Bulldogs lead to 2-1 through 40- minutes.
Jack Lisson made himself the star of the final frame stopping all 15 Bulldogs shots he faced including a net crash from Charlie Paquette that just stayed ahead of the goal line and a brilliant game saving stop to deny Marek Vanacker from the slot. North Ba y made their netminder's work stand up with Ethan Procyszyn sending Kaden Pitre away on a break. Freezing Ryerson Leenders and turning forehand, Pitre collected his 17th of the season to tie the game 2-2 at 13:25 and force overtime. In the extra session, the only shot made the difference with North Bay controlling the puck in 3-on-3 and setting it off the right point for Kent Greer to walk down and rip over the shoulder of Leenders for his 10th of the season, giving the Battalion the extra point in a 3- 2 ovetime win.
The Brantford Bulldogs return to action for the middle stage of their northern road trip on Friday, March 13th, visiting the Sudbury Wolves at the Sudbury Community Arena with a 7:00pm puck drop.
Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2026
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