The Brantford Bulldogs extended their strong start to the season with a 5–4 win over the Brampton Steelheads on Saturday afternoon at the TD Civic Centre.
The victory lifts Brantford to a 16–0–5 record and keeps them at the top of the Eastern Conference standings with 37 points.
Brantford built early momentum with three first-period goals.
Ryder Boulton opened the scoring at 5:55, followed by markers from Adam Benak at 15:09 and a power-play goal from Marek Vanacker at 17:30. Brampton had taken the lead briefly earlier in the period with a power-play goal at 5:30, but the Bulldogs responded quickly and carried a 3–1 advantage into the intermission.
The teams traded goals through the second frame.
Brampton cut the lead to 3–2 at 7:00 on a goal from Gabriel Chiarot’s line, before Adam Jiricek restored Brantford’s two-goal cushion with a power-play marker at 10:32.
The Steelheads added pressure in the third, scoring twice — including a goal from Julian Demiglio at 19:42 — but Jiricek’s second of the night at 7:20 stood as the game-winner.
Goaltender David Egorov earned the win for Brantford, stopping a combined 32 shots across three stints in the crease. Brampton’s Zach Bowen made 20 saves in the loss.
Boulton, Jiricek and Chiarot were named the three stars of the game.
Attendance was recorded at 3,207.
With the win, Brantford maintains the best points percentage in the conference at .881, ahead of Ottawa (.727) and Barrie (.568). Brampton remains eighth in the East with 17 points.
The Bulldogs return to action on Thursday, November 20, when they visit the Niagara IceDogs at 7 p.m.
