Hamilton Bulldogs play for an OHL championship and a Memorial Cup berth on Monday night

Mason McTavish stepped up to get the Hamilton Bulldogs to the last step, where they can unlock an ultimate squad goal.

With two goals from McTavish providing the decisive margin, and Marco Costantini shutting the door down the stretch, the Hamilton Bulldogs carried off a 3-2 win against the Windsor Spitfires on Sunday in Game 5 of the Ontario Hockey League final. With their first lead in the best-of-seven championship series, at 3-2, the Bulldogs have a chance to win their second J. Ross Robertson Cup when they visit the Spitfires for Game 6 on Monday (7 p.m., TSN, Bulldogs Audio Network).

Game 7, if necessary, would be back in Hamilton on Wednesday (June 15). The league champs will face the host Saint John Sea Dogs in the Memorial Cup tournament opener on June 20.

The Bulldogs, backed by a crowd of 7,690 that turned the nearly full lower bowl of FirstOntario Centre into a sea of gold and din, never gave the lead back once they were able to wrest it from the well-structured Spitfires. McTavish untied the game 1:58 into the third period on a setup from Patrick Thomas, delighting a crowd sporting Be The Hammer promotional T-shirts. It was the 14th goal of the playoffs for the Anaheim Ducks first-round choice, who started the season in the NHL and also played in the Beijing Olympics with Canada’s men’s hockey team.

Costantini had 22 saves, including a series of rapid-reaction stops on OHL player of the year Wyatt Johnson and fellow Windsor forwards Daniel D’Amico and Jacob Maillet with 90 seconds left in the third period.

On both Sunday and in Game 4 at Windsor on Friday, the Bulldogs scored the game’s final two goals to take a 3-2 decision. The first time it took a lot more time to wear down Windsor, with Nathan Staios scoring a late tying goal with under two minutes left in the third period. Gavin White got the overtime winner.

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McTavish’s first goal of the game drew Hamilton level at 2-2 with 7:58 left in the second period. Ryan Winterton scored a first-period goal for Hamilton, but left the game immediately afterward with an injury. Avery Hayes and Logan Morrison each had two-assist nights.

Johnston scored for Windsor, giving him an OHL-leading 39 points in the playoffs, while Ryan Abraham also scored. Goalie Mathius Onuska saved 23-of-26 shots.

The Bulldogs were defeated just three times — all in away games — between the OHL trade deadline in January and through the Eastern Conference portion of the playoffs. General manager Steve Staios and coach Jay McKee’s intentions were made clear at the deadline when the Bulldogs added frontline talent both up front and on the back end. Staios acquired McTavish, an Anaheim Ducks first-round choice who got NHL experience in the fall, from the Peterborough Petes. Defenceman Arber Xhekaj, a Montreal Canadiens signing, was also added from the Kitchener Rangers.

Hamilton has a chance to win its second OHL title since joining the pro-track development league in 2015. That year, owner Michael Andlauer did a franchise flip, buying the Belleville Bulls and selling an American Hockey League (AHL) franchise to the Montreal Canadiens.

The 2018 Bulldogs won the J. Ross Robertson Cup. COVID-19 has limited the OHL to only awarding one champion since. The Guelph Storm won in 2019. The ’19-20 season was abandoned due to the pandemic and the league did not play last season.

Half of the four-team field for the Memorial Cup is filled. The Shawinigan Cataractes won the Quebec league (QMJHL) title last Saturday (June 11), finishing off a five-game series win against the Charlottetown Islanders.

In the Western league (WHL), the Edmonton Oil Kings lead the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2. Edmonton hosts Game 6 on Monday.

Depending on the series outcome, the OHL champion will have either a four- or six-day respite before facing Saint John. The host Sea Dogs are getting 38 days to prepare after losing in the opening round of the QMJHL playoffs.