Special teams key as 'Dogs down Amerks

Published on March 31, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release


HAMILTON, ON - The Hamilton Bulldogs scored five goals on special teams en route to a 7-4 victory over the Rochester Americans on Saturday night at Copps Coliseum in front of 5,387 spectators. The ‘Dogs potted three goals with the man-advantage and two while shorthanded. With the win, Hamilton's record improves to 40-24-3-5 on the season.

Rochester opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 2:06 of the first period when Marek Zagrapan tipped Mark Mancari's point shot past Hamilton goaltender Yann Danis. Dylan Hunter also earned an assist.

Hamilton then scored three goals in less than five minutes to take a 3-1 lead before the end of the opening frame. The Bulldogs tied the game 1-1 at 10:36 when Mikhail Grabovski's centering pass deflected off a skate in front of the net and past Americans goaltender David Shantz. With Hamilton on a two-man advantage, Mathieu Biron one-timed Corey Locke's pass over the left shoulder of Shantz at 17:09. Just 52 seconds later, Jonathan Ferland banged in a loose puck in front of the Rochester net with the Bulldogs on the power play to give Hamilton a two-goal lead.

At 7:31 of the second period, the ‘Dogs scored shorthanded to take a 4-1 lead. While streaking down the left side, Ajay Baines took a pass from Kyle Chipchura, cut to the net and beat Shantz with a backhand shot. The Amerks cut the lead to 4-2 just 48 seconds later with a power-play goal when Stefan Meyer scored his 13th marker of the season.

At 10:59, Chipchura was awarded a penalty shot when he was hooked to the ice with the Bulldogs shorthanded. Chipchura used a nifty deke to slide the puck into the net on his forehand and restore Hamilton's three-goal lead. Eric Manlow gave the Bulldogs a 6-2 lead when he scored his third goal of the season by burying his own rebound at 13:56. Corey Locke and Matt D'Agostini collected assists.

With Hamilton on the power play, Ferland scored his second goal of the game on a three-on-none rush when he one-timed Cory Urquhart's pass behind Shantz to put the ‘Dogs up by five goals. With two seconds remaining in the middle frame, Amerks forward Drew Larman beat Danis with a one-time shot to make the score 7-3.

Rochester rounded out the scoring when Mancari centered the puck to Rob Globke whose snap shot found the back of the net at 2:07 of the third period.

Between the pipes, Danis made 14 saves on 18 shots to earn the win for the ‘Dogs, while Shantz stopped 31 of 38 shots in the loss.

The Bulldogs were 3-for-6 on the power play while the Americans went 2-for-3 with the extra-man.

Hamilton returns to action at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 1st, when the Toronto Marlies visit Copps Coliseum. Tickets for all ‘Dogs home games are available at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, any Ticketmaster outlet, online at www.ticketmaster.ca, or through charge-by-phone at 905-527-7666. Fans can listen to the game on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, 820 CHAM "The Legend," beginning with the Park's Furniture Pre-Game Show. Fans can also listen or watch at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com by clicking on the ‘B2 Networks' or ‘820 CHAM' icon on the ‘Dogs website.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from March 31, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central