Hamilton Bulldogs’ goalie grabs OHL honour for 2nd time in 3 weeks

Marco Costantini, the Hamilton Bulldogs’ hometown No. 1 netminder, has earned goaltender of the week honours in the OHL for the second time this month.

The 19-year-old Costantini copped the league recognition after fashioning a 0.67 goals-against average, .973 save percentage and one shutout during three winning starts last week. The Hamilton native stopped 71-of-73 shots. He rounded out the weekend on Sunday in Ottawa, stopping 24 in a 3-1 win over the 67’s. Two nights earlier, Costantini made 29 saves in a 3-1 road win against the Kingston Frontenacs, which marked the first time that Hamilton has won this season in the Limestone City.

Last Monday, Costantini stopped all 18 shots he faced in Monday’s Outdoor Showcase as the Bulldogs defeated the the Oshawa Generals 3-0 at Tim Hortons Field.

Costantini owns the OHL’s second-best goals-against average of 2.48, going 25-9-2-2 with a .912 save percentage and league-high matching four shutouts. The Bulldogs have won 16 of his last 17 starts. Over this stretch, he was also the goaltender of the week for the week of Feb. 28 to March 6.

The Bulldogs earned eight-of-10 possible points during a rare five-game week. The lone loss was a 3-1 defeated against the Peterborough Petes on March 15 on the night after the outdoor contest.

Hamilton, which is the first OHL team to reach the 40-win mark this season, is next in action on Thursday. The Bulldogs visit the North Bay Battalion in a matchup of the top two teams in the overall standings. The Bulldogs are eight points ahead of the Battalion, who have only 10 games left in the schedule. With 12 remaining, Hamilton has two games in hand.

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The other goalies considered for this week’s award were the Peterborough Petes’ Michael Simpson and the Sarnia Sting’s Anson Thornton. Simpson stopped 92 of 97 shots, going 2-1 across three starts with a 1.67 average and .948 save percentage. Thornton of the Sarnia Sting was also 2-1, recording his first career OHL shutout to finish with a 2.34 average and .931 save percentage.