Hamilton Bulldogs grab early OHL series lead against Mississauga Steelheads
Published May 5, 2022 at 9:29 pm
Ryan Humphrey, Mason McTavish and Logan Morrison found ways to score while the coaches played chess with their checkers, as scorers do in the playoffs.
Game 1 between the Hamilton Bulldogs against the Mississauga Steelheads played according to the standard script for a second-round series between the top two defensive teams in the Ontario Hockey League regular season. But the Bulldogs, who have grown used to opponents trying to drag them into lower-event games during their dominant run over the last four months,, wore down Mississauga’s man-to-man defensive zone coverage. That paid off with goals late in each of the first two periods on their way to an 4-2 win on Thursday.
The teams pick up their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal at 2 p.m. on Sunday (May 8) at First Ontario Centre. Mississauga’s home leg for games 3 and 4 Paramount Fine Foods Centre is set for May 10 and 13.
Xhekaj ejected
The Bulldogs, though, might not have got out of the game without worry about another suspension to a core player. Rugged defenceman Arber Xhekaj got a major penalty and game misconduct in the third period for a check to the head of Steelheads wing Kai Schwindt. The Bulldogs are already missing wing Avery Hayes, their regular-season goals leader and a valuable penalty killer, who is shelved until Game 4 of the series due to the cross-checking match penalty he received during Hamilton’s first-round closeout win against the Peterborough Petes on April 28.
McTavish, the Anaheim Ducks first-round choice, had his third two-goal game in a row, including the icebreaker 14:35 into the proceedings. With 3:06 left in the second period, Morrison converted a feed from George Diaco by zipping with a wrist shot over the glove of Steelheads goalie Roman Basran.
McTavish and Morrison are joint OHL playoff goal leaders with seven apiece.
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After going down 2-0, the Steelheads worked to continue closing shooting lanes and stay in striking distance. But 28 seconds from the intermission, Winterton redirected a tipping-friendly low shot from Colton Kammerer to open a three-goal lead.
That provided ample cushion for Hamilton. The Steelheads got goals in the third period from Zakary Lavoie and Aiden Prueter, but failed to tally on their five-minute power play after Xhekaj was elected.
The Bulldogs have allowed three or more goals in only 10 of their 44 games since the OHL trade deadline and are 41-2-1 over that span.
Close-checking
In the regular season, Hamilton allowed a league-fewest 174 goals. Mississauga, whose defence corps features Freelton native and Chicago NHL draft choice Ethan Del Mastro, allowed just 183 and also ranked third in penalty killing. The North Bay Battalion (194) were the only other team to give up fewer than 200.
Hamilton went 6-1-1 against Mississauga during the season series. But the aggregate scoreline, 19-12 for Hamilton, attested to the close-checking nature of the teams’ matchups. Mississauga’s competitiveness this season, with a roster whose only two NHL draft picks are defencemen, has been recognized through Steelheads bench boss James Richmond becoming the Eastern nominee for OHL coach of the year.
Bulldogs goalie Marco Costantini saved 30-of-32 shots, including a highlight-reel pad save on Mississauga’s Owen Beck during Hamilton’s elongated third-period penalty kill.
Basran saved 28-of-32 shots, and turned away Hamilton’s Jan Mysak on a penalty shot in the first period.
The series winner will face the Kingston Frontenacs-North Bay Battalion victor in the Eastern Conference final. North Bay hosts Game 1 of that series on Friday.
The Western Conference semifinals stage involves Kitchener Rangers-Windsor Spitfires and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds-Flint Firefires matchups. Kitchener, the No. 7 seed, knocked off the London Knights in a seven-game first-round series.
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