The Riddle of the Day is this…..How did Cedrick Desjardins get a bad sunburn on the back of his neck while playing hockey? The answer is…..Because the red goal light behind him kept turning on as the Hamilton Bulldogs were burned by the Abbotsford Heat 4-1 on November 17.
This was the first game of a week-long road trip through Western Canada for the Bulldogs, who may have been affected by the three-hour time difference out West. Or perhaps they were captivated by the beautiful scenery of British Columbia. Either way, Abbotsford (affiliate of the Calgary Flames) was able to score four straight goals by the midway point of the third period to give the Heat a 4-0 lead.
David Desharnais finally put the Bulldogs in the game at 12:03 of the final frame, scoring on the powerplay, to break the shutout attempt by Abbotsford goaltender Leland Irving.
The following night, November 18, the Bulldogs defeated the Heat by a score of 2-1.
J.T. Wyman opened the game’s scoring at 16:46 of the first period while on the power play, assisted by Andre Benoit and Brock Trotter.
The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead at 2:35 of the second period, compliments of David Desharnais, who blasted a shot into the Abbotsford net after receiving a pass from Mike Glumac. Curtis Sanford was in goal for this game, his first start since rejoining the team after being away (so he could be with his wife as she gave birth to their third child) and he did not disappoint, allowing only one goal to preserve the win 2-1 for the Dogs.
After a day off, the Bulldogs travelled to Winnipeg to face the Manitoba Moose in another back-to-back series of two games.
Brock Trotter scored his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Desharnais and Glumac, at 13:46 into the game, to give Hamilton a 1-0 lead. The celebration would not last long as the Moose (affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks) tied the game 1-1 less than a minute later.
By the end of the second period, Manitoba had scored two more times to put the Moose up 3-1. Starting goaltender Curtis Sanford was replaced in goal by Cedrick Desjardins for the remainder of the game. Andrew Conboy and P.K. Subban
would score for the Bulldogs in the third period but their efforts would be too
little, too late. The Moose sealed the win with a pair of empty net goals to give them a 5-3 victory.
Mathieu Carle, Sergei Kostitsyn, and David Desharnais would take the Bulldogs by the leash in the rematch game 24 hours later. These three players combined for four goals and four assists in regulation time. The Moose held their ground, however, and forced the game into overtime with only seconds remaining on the score clock.
The Hamilton Bulldogs would take the game in the overtime period when P.K. Subban fired the puck into the top of the Manitoba net, giving the Bulldogs a 5-4 win.
The Bulldogs have made a trio of signings in the past few days, first bringing
back Ryan Kinasewich on a tryout deal. Kinasewich had started the season
with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies. On Monday, the team signed Grant Stevenson
to a 1-year deal while extending a tryout to Mathieu Curadeau. Stevenson
was in Kloten, Switzerland to start the season after spending the past 3 seasons
with 3 different AHL teams. He also has 47 games of NHL experience,
scoring 10 goals and 12 assists. Curadeau has 13 points in 11 games with
the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings as well as a goal in 3 games with the AHL’s Worcester
Sharks this season.