The Hamilton Bulldogs skated on home ice on Saturday night for the first time since winning Game 7 of the 2022 OHL Championship as they hosted the Oshawa Generals in the home opener. Prior to puck drop, the Bulldogs awarded the players and coaching staff their 2022 OHL Championship rings and raised 4 banners to the rafters for amomentous night.
As the game got underway the Bulldogs were clearly feeding off the momentum of the night, as the OHL’s most dynamic line in the 2022 playoffs struck early. As Ryan Humphrey worked the puck over the blueline on the left side in an exchange with Logan Morrison, Humphrey collected the puck and dealt it out front where Avery Hayes got it to his backhand and flipped it past Patrick Leaver to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead at 3:44 on his 2nd of the season. The dynamic duowasn’t done in the frame yet, with the Bulldogs on the power-play at 10:51, Artem Grushnikov slid the puck right for Logan Morrison who whipped it circle to circle finding Avery Hayes again for a bullet past Leaver for his 2nd of the game and 3rd of the season giving Hamilton a 2-0 lead. Marco Costantini picked up on home ice where left off in the opening frame, miraculously paddling a puck off his goal-line to keep the Bulldogs ahead. Oshawa would nudge closer before the end of the first period. On a power-play of their own Lleyton Moore moved the puck out front of the Bulldogs net to Ryan Gagnier for his 2nd of the season at 18:25 sending the game to the locker room with the Bulldogs lead cut in half at 2-1.
A sleepy second period woke up around the half-way point with Oshawa striking at 11:49 as a
heavy bounce off the left wing boards in the Bulldogs end fell to Beckett Senecke, who fed back door for Stuart Rolofs to tie the game 2-2. Just 22 seconds later, Marek Vanacker sprung Patrick Thomas on a breakaway with a brilliant zone exit pass from the rookie. Thomas strode straight down the slot but left the 5,000-plus in attendance in awe as he spun the puck behind himself to a streaking Cole Brown who rifled a shot over Leaver, recording his 3rd of the young season at 12:11 and putting the Bulldogs back on top 3-2. Costantini again stood strong, stopping 10 of the 11 he faced in the middle frame sending the Bulldogs to the break with the lead after 40.
The Generals fought back again to open the final frame, with Beckett Senecke on the doorstep, he was able to bounce a puck past Costantini at 6:37 while falling to the ice from a Lucas Moore check, tying the game 3-3. Once more Hamilton’s dynamic duo was called on and delivered. At 9:43 Logan Morrison won a draw on the Bulldogs attacking left-wing side that Avery Hayes tracked through the slot, turned, and fired a shot past Leaver to complete his hat-trick and giving the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead. Just under 2-minutes later the young Bulldogs picked up where the veterans left off as Noah Van Vliet moved blocked a zone exit at the left point, getting the puck to Patrick Thomas down the boards who hit Marek Vanacker with a pass in the left-circle. As Vanacker turned, Thomas worked around back of the Oshawa goal and emerged just off the right post, where Vanacker put a tape-to-tape pass for Thomas to score his 2nd goal of the season and put the Bulldogs to a 5-3 lead they would not relinquish. On a night where they honoured the 2022 OHL Champions, the Bulldogs put in a Championship effort, winning their home opener by a 5-3 final.
The Hamilton Bulldogs return to the road on Friday, October 14th making the trip to Leon’s Centre in Kingston for a 7:00pm puck drop before returning home on Sunday, October 16th to host the London Knights for a 2:00pm puck drop at FirstOntario Centre.
Source: Reed Duthie