IceDogs shoot down Bulldogs
The Niagara IceDogs capped off their weekend with a 3-2 shootout win over the Hamilton Bulldogs in Ontario Hockey League action Saturday night in Hamilton.
The win was the second for Niagara in as many nights, following a 5-4 victory at Oshawa Friday. The IceDogs began their week with an ugly 5-2 loss at home to Sudbury.
“We’re very happy,” IceDogs coach Billy Burke said. “(To get) four out of six points every weekend is our goal. Obviously, we want to win all our home games, and it was disappointing after Thursday, but the guys bounced back Friday and carried it over.”
The Bulldogs had only game over the weekend and were rested, although they were missing five regulars.
“They were a little banged up so that was a bit of an equalizer,” Burke said.
“They only had five defencemen dressed, so we wanted to stress to make it a bit of a nightmare for them, make them turn and go back for pucks and use our speed.”
The IceDogs had a tough first period, quickly falling behind 1-0 just over a minute in on a goal by Grimsby’s Brandon Saigeon.
“We were a little slow to start the game. They had a pre-game ceremony and it kind of sucked the life out of us,” Burke said. “By the second half of the first period we kind of found our legs.”
Hamilton made it 2-0 on Saigeon’s second of the game 43 seconds into the second period, but the IceDogs responded with a power-play goal by Ben Jones and then a marker by Drew Hunter with under four minutes to play to tie the game at 2-2.
Following a scoreless third period and overtime, the IceDogs picked up the extra point when Akil Thomas scored the lone goal of the shootout while Stephen Dhillon turned back all three Hamilton shooters.
Burke said he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just one point.
“If we lost in overtime or the shootout I think we would have been disappointed,” he said. “It’s a weird thing, a weird feeling when you lose in a shootout. It’s enjoyable for the fans and I like there are no ties, but it’s a flip of the coin.”
The IceDogs have Sunday and Monday off for the Thanksgiving holiday, then go back to work Tuesday in preparation for road games in Guelph Friday and Erie, Pa. Saturday.
They play at home again Thursday, Oct. 19 versus Mississauga.
