IceDogs drop third straight
The Niagara IceDogs didn’t do themselves any favours Thursday night.
With seven regulars out of the lineup and only 10 forwards dressed, the IceDogs fell behind early and never fully recovered as they dropped a 6-3 decision to the Brantford Bulldogs in Ontario Hockey League action at Meridian Centre.
Brantford scored three goals on their first five shots to take a quick 3-0 lead before Niagara head coach Ben Boudreau pulled one of the only cards in his deck, replacing starting goaltender Owen Flores with Marcus Vandenberg.
“I don’t care if they’re three backdoor tap-ins, it’s three goals on five shots,” Boudreau said. “For us it was wake up call for the rest of the team. We all love Flores, he’s our guy, but they found a way to battle and finish that period 4-2.
“When you do something like that you’re trying to spark a little something inside of them, trying to use any tool at my disposal.”
Boudreau said the undermanned IceDogs had little choice but to follow the game plan once down.
“It (early deficit) couldn’t change anything,” he said. “We have what we have and we have to stick to a game plan. We talk about playing for 60 minutes the same way but when you look up at the scoreboard and you’re down 3-0 on the first five shots, we made a goalie change right there to get the group to calm down and collectively get some of their thoughts and reenergize but then you look at the end of the game — six goals on 18 shots. Whoever plays in net you have to find a way to stop a puck or two.”
The loss could be chalked up to far more than just a rare off night for the Niagara goaltenders.
“You’re looking for your offensive guys to step up and find a way to score. We had 29 scoring opportunities to their 27 and they scored six on 18. We had the better opportunities to score, we’re just not finding that finish so we want our scorers to be scorers but they have to find a way to get that puck across the line,” Boudreau said.
The IceDogs travel to Flint and Saginaw this weekend, but Boudreau isn’t expecting any reinforcements.
“I’m not making excuses. We have what we have and it’s on the guys that are playing every single game to contribute in how they possibly can. Whether it’s a goalie that needs to play his game or our D that needs to play or our scorers who need to find the back of the net, we need everybody to do their job in order to give us a chance to win.
“Our saying has been 20 men for 20 minutes for two points and we didn’t have everybody going tonight and we didn’t play for 60 minutes and we definitely didn’t get the two points.”
One player who won’t be back at all is forward Ryan Humphrey who has been placed on waivers and is no longer with the team. Humphrey is expected to sign in the United States Hockey League. The overage winger was acquired from the London Knights along with Mathieu Paris for Juan Copeland, a second-round pick in 2026 a third in 2026.
The IceDogs, 4-12-4-1, have dropped three straight and eight of nine.
“We can’t give up on each other, we just have to keep going,” Boudreau said. “We’re doing a lot of good things but a moral victory now isn’t going to cut it for us.
“Our philosophy now is to get to the rainbow you have to deal with a little bit of rain and now it’s pouring pretty good on us.”
Ice cubes: Alex Assadourian, Ryan Humphrey, Brody Crane, Mathieu Paris, Evan Klein, Andrew Wycisk and Andrew Vermulen did not dress for the IceDogs . . . Dylan Tsherna, Cedricson Okitundu, Adrian Rebelo and Luca Testa were scratched for the Bulldogs . . . Bulldogs back-up netminder David Egorov is a former Hamilton Kilty-B . . . Grimsby native and former St. Catharines Falcon Luca Testa is off to a strong start with nine goals and 12 points in 13 games for the Bulldogs . . . Welland native and former Thorold Blackhawks defenceman Callum Cheynowski has one assist in 13 games Brantford . . . Ex-Pelham Panther Florian Xhekaj has 11 goals for the Bulldogs.
STATS PACK
Bulldogs 6 IceDogs 3
Brantford’s Noah Nelson and Niagara’s Kevin He.
Niagara IceDogs: Ryan Roobroeck (7); Gavin Bryant (7); Ryan Vannetten (1).
Brantford Bulldogs: Nick Lardis (15); Florian Xhekaj (11); Cole Brown (4); Lawson Sherk (3); Ben Bujold (3); Noah Nelson (1).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Matteo Drobac (29), by Brantford on Owen Flores/Marcus Vandenberg (20); Power plays: Niagara 1/4, Brantford 0/3; Penalty minutes: Niagara 11, Brantford 13.
Attendance: 3,340.
Next up: The IceDogs are in Flint Saturday at 7 p.m. and in Saginaw Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
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