The Hamilton Bulldogs opened up their weekend with a 2-1 overtime win over the Toronto Marlies. This was the third
Battle of Ontario matchup so far this season and the first one that Hamilton was
victorious in. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs in terms of their battle for the
division lead, their North Division rival Marlies still put up one point for the overtime
loss and sit just one point behind Hamilton in second place.
In the first period the Marlies would come out strong and found the back of the net just about five minutes in. The goal would come from Josh Leivo, his first of the season and his AHL career,
though strangely enough, it wasn’t the first of his pro career as he already has
his first NHL goal under his belt. Spencer Abbott and Greg McKegg would pick up the assists on the goal.
Leivo’s goal would be the only goal until midway through the third when Hamilton’s captain, Martin St. Pierre would put in his first of the night to tie it up at
one. Patrick Holland and Magnus Nygren picked the assists. St. Pierre would connect once again with Nygren and this time with Nathan Beaulieu to put in the game winner with just over two
minutes left in the extra time; both goals would come on the powerplay.
Dustin Tokarski got the start in net for the Bulldogs, his first against the
Marlies this year, and made a total of 24 saves through out the contest. As for Toronto’s Drew MacIntyre
(a former Bulldog), he would stop 35 shots and earn the second star of the game. It was in the third period when Tokarski really stood out; after losing his stick, he managed to maintain himself and stop a couple of shots while the Marlies
were in his end for just over 20 seconds. Special teams proved to be the
difference in this one as the Bulldogs were 2/4 with the man advantage while
Toronto didn’t score on their lone opportunity.
Hamilton’s Lines:
Andrighetto – St. Pierre – Holland
Tarnasky – Dumont – Aliu
Nystrom – Duffy – Macenauer
Courtnall – Nattinen – Quailer
Tinordi – Nygren
Beaulieu – Chouinard
Schiestel – Ellis
Game Stars:
1. HAM – Martin St. Pierre
2. TOR – Drew MacIntyre
3. TOR – Josh Leivo
Highlights:
Next Game:
Hamilton hosts the Abbotsford Heat Saturday night, scheduled to start at 7pm.
The teams have yet to meet up this season, and are both division leaders. The Heat are currently leading in the West Divison, with a 6-5-0-1 record and are currently riding a 2-game winning streak after topping the Utica
Comets in back-to-back matchups.