Brantford Bulldogs win home opener 5-2 over visiting Oshawa Generals

The Brantford Bulldogs got stellar goaltending from Matteo Drobac to win their home opener defeating the Oshawa Generals 5-2.

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Playing at the newly renovated Civic Center for the first time, Bulldogs fell behind 1-0 when the Generals Stuart Rolofs scored on a tip in, assisted by Dylan Roobroeck and Ryder McIntyre. The first period ended with the General leading 1-0.

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But the Bulldogs came out strong in the second period and Florian Xhekaj scored the first Bulldogs goal in Brantford and his second of the season at the 2:58 mark. Xhekaj’s goal came after a steal and assist from teammate Ben Bujold.

Moments later, with the score 1-1, Xhekaj was assessed a match penalty and ejected from the game for allegedly slew-footing a Generals player. The Bulldogs were then forced to play shorthanded for five minutes.

Drobac, who had been steady for the Bulldogs all night, made some excellent saves to keep the Generals at bay.

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Masen Wray, of the Bulldogs, forced a turnover to create a two on one for the Bulldogs. Wray’s shot was stopped but Ben Bujold was in great position of the rebound and the Bulldogs had their first lead of the night.

“It was a team effort and any time you can hold them off for five minutes, that’s huge,” Drobac said. “I made some saves, my teammates blocked some shots, it was all about the team and everyone contributing.”

The Bulldogs dominated the second period and took a 3-1 lead when Lawson Sherk scored on a wrap-around for his second goal of the season. Sherk’s goal came with just seven second left in the second period.

The second period ended with matching roughing penalties and the teams started the third period playing four-on-four.

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The Generals made 3-2 at the .34 second mark of the final frame when Beckett Sennecke scored his second of the season. Luca Marrelli and Ben Danford had the assists.

A couple of minutes later however, Nick Lardis stole a pass that was heading out of the Oshawa end. He fired a shot past Generals goaltender Jacob Oster to restore the Bulldogs two-goal lead.

Lardis put the Bulldogs ahead 5-2 when teammate Patrick Thomas stole the puck. Thomas passed it to Lardis who scored his second of the game and fourth of the season.

Following the game Lardis said the team did a great job killing off the five-minute penalty. The team was pumped up by the loud and supportive crowd and he said the Bulldogs are looking forward to a great season.

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“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Lardis said.

The home opener was the first Major Junior A hockey game to be played at the Civic Center in almost 40 years. The game attracted 3,041 enthusiastic fans who greeted the visiting Oshawa Generals with boos and their home town team with chants of “Let’s Go Bulldogs” throughout the game.

The Bulldogs are scheduled to play the Mississauga Steelheads in Mississauga on Sunday (Oct. 8) and return to the Civic Center to play the Peterborough Petes at 7 pm Oct. 13.

Prior to the home opener, the Bulldogs named Sherk as the team’s seventh captain in franchise history. The assistant captains are Lardis, Thomas, Noah Van Vliet and Jorian Donovan.

Drafted in the second round and 40th overall in the 2019 OHL priority selection draft, Sherk has played more than 190 games for the Bulldogs. He scored 12 goals and earned 23 assists.

Sherk was at the Buffalo Sabers camp before returning to the OHL for his final season.

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