Hamilton Bulldogs wear down Peterborough to take two-game lead in OHL series

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Published April 25, 2022 at 10:08 pm

Logan Morrison (right) scored three goals during a 5-2 Hamilton Bulldogs win against the Peterborough Petes in an OHL playoff game on Monday. Hamilton is up 2-0 in the best-of-seven conference quarterfinal series. (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)

Persistence paid off, particularly for centre Logan Morrison, as the Hamilton Bulldogs took a two-games-to-none lead on Monday in their first-round series.

The underdog Peterborough Petes showed some fight, relying on goalie Michael Simpson to try to give them a puncher’s chance against the No. 1-seeded Bulldogs at FirstOntario Centre. Hamilton, though, generated 53 shots across the game’s first 40 minutes and broke through late in each of the first two periods for an eventual 5-2 win. Morrison, characteristically a playmaker, had a hat trick, giving him five goals in the first two games of the Ontario  Hockey League conference quarterfinals. Depth forward Giordano Biondi and defenceman Gavin White also chipped in on goals.

The next two games are back-to-back at Peterborough Memorial Centre on Wednesday and Thursday (April 27-28). Game 5, if necessary, would be back at FirstOntario Centre on Sunday.

Simpson faced 55 shots, stopping 50. The Bulldogs fell two shots shy of matching their season high of 57, which was set on Feb. 13.

At one point in the first period, the Bulldogs were down 2-0 on the scoreboard and up 16-3 on the shot counter. Joe Carroll opened the scoring just inside of the three-minute mark, and Tucker Robertson added a short-handed goal just 9:17 into the game.

Biondi, who had just seven goals in a regular season that he began with the Sudbury Wolves, got Hamilton off the deck with 1:48 left in the frame. Morrison scored on the power play in the final seconds of the period.

In the final six minutes of the second, White put the Bulldogs ahead for good, and Morrison scored another power-play goal. Hamilton was 2-for-6 with the extra skater with a shorthanded goal against, while Peterborough was 0-for-7.

After the two early goals against, Bulldogs goalie Marco Costantini finished with 18 saves.

Backup goalie stymies Steelheads

First-time playoff starter Matteo Lalama, a 19-year-old goalie from St. Catharines, helped the Barrie Colts wrest the upper hand in their series against the Mississauga Steelheads.

At Barrie, the Colts took a 3-1 win in Game 3 for a 2-1 series lead against the Steelheads. Lalama, called on to start after 20-year-old goalie Mack Guzda was stretched, made 28 saves to back Barrie.

James Hardie scored for the Steelheads, who have scored just four goals through three games in a tautly played series.

The Steelheads and Colts split a pair of 2-1 overtime decisions in the first two contests last weekend at Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

Mississauga will have a chance to even the series in Game 4 on Wednesday, and is next home at 7 p.m. on Saturday for Game 5.

In the other two Eastern Conference series, the Oshawa Generals trail 2-0 against the Kingston Frontenacs, and host the next two games on Tuesday and Thursday.

The North Bay Battalion are also up 3-0 on the Ottawa 67’s and have a closeout game in the nation’s capital on Wednesday.

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