Winchester Posts 5 Points in 'Dogs Shootout Victory

Published on November 26, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release


Grand Rapids, MI - Bulldogs forward Brad Winchester scored three times and added two assists as the Hamilton Bulldogs defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins 6-5 in a shootout on Saturday night at Van Andel Arena. The shootout went eight rounds before Corey Locke scored the deciding goal. Winchester's five points are the most by a Bulldog in a single game this season.

The win snapped the Bulldogs (8-13-0-1) six-game losing streak. It was the first time this season that Hamilton won a contest when trailing after two periods. The Bulldogs are now 1-9-0-0 in games when they trail after two periods.

Andrei Kostitsyn (1g, 3a) and Locke (3a) also had multipoint games for Hamilton.

The Griffins opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 3:32 of the first period when defenseman Bryan Helmer beat Bulldogs goaltender Jeff DesLauriers with a high shot from the face-off circle.

Griffins forward Tomas Kopecky extended Grand Rapids' lead to 2-0 when he fired a snap shot from the slot past DesLauriers just 59 seconds into the middle frame.

The Bulldogs cut the Griffins' lead in half at 6:47 of the second period when Andrei Kostitsyn deflected a Brad Winchester pass up and over Grand Rapids' goaltender Joey MacDonald.

Winchester tied the game at 2-2 just 2:20 later when he buried the rebound of a Corey Locke pass with the Bulldogs on the power play.

Grand Rapids reclaimed the lead at 12:18 when Kent McDonell was left alone in front of the Bulldogs goal and roofed a shot inside the far post.

Kopecky scored his second of the game to put the Griffins up 4-2 at 16:09. Kopecky, who was positioned at the side of the Bulldogs net, buried the rebound of Donald MacLean's shot.

Hamilton pulled within a goal just 1:29 later when Winchester rifled a slap shot past McDonald from the high face-off circle with the Bulldogs on the power play.

With Griffins forward Jon Insana serving a five-minute major for high sticking early in the third period, the Bulldogs took the lead scoring a pair of power-play goals. Andre Benoit tied the game at 4-4 when he moved in from the point and lifted a rebound over MacDonald at 3:21. Winchester then completed the hat trick at 4:47 when he tipped-in a Corey Locke pass.

Insana tied the game with 2:57 remaining in the third period when he skated in from the point and took a wrist shot from the face-off dot that beat DesLauriers. The goal was Insana's first of the season.

Locke clinched the win for the Bulldogs in the shootout, which went eight rounds.

Hamilton goaltender DesLauriers stopped 32 shots to earn the win. Grand Rapids netminder MacDonald made 37 saves and suffered the loss.

Hamilton was 4 for 10 with the man advantage while Grand Rapids was 2 for 6.

The Bulldogs will play back-to-back games on Tuesday, November 29 and Wednesday, November 30 when they travel to Manitoba to face the Moose. Both games begin at 8:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs next home game will take place on Friday, December 2, when the Toronto Marlies visit Copps Coliseum for the third time this season. Both teams will be wearing specialty jerseys honouring the rivalry between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts. Tiger-Cat and Argonaut players and alumni will be in attendance. Game time is at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at Copps Coliseum Box Office (in-person sales only), any Ticketmaster outlet, or online at ticketmaster.ca.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 26, 2005


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