The Brantford Bulldogs defeated the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 3–2 in a shootout Sunday afternoon at the Civic Centre, extending their strong run atop the Ontario Hockey League Eastern Conference.
Adam Benak scored the lone goal of the shootout after Jett Luchanko was stopped, while Ryerson Leenders turned aside all three Soo attempts to secure the extra point for Brantford.
The game was tied 1–1 after the opening period and remained deadlocked through a scoreless second.
The Greyhounds opened the scoring at 11:43 of the first when Jeremy Martin finished a play set up by Marco Mignosa and Jordan Charron.
Brantford answered on the power play at 3:21, with Benak converting a feed from Caleb Malhotra.
Charlie Paquette restored the Bulldogs’ lead midway through the third period, scoring at 9:00 with assists from Vladimir Dravecky. Sault Ste. Marie forced overtime at 11:52 when Lukas Fischer scored off passes from Colin Fitzgerald and Brady Smith.
Neither side found a winner in the five-minute overtime, sending the game to a shootout.
Leenders, who entered early in the first period, finished with 26 saves over regulation and overtime and was named first star.
Carter George stopped 37 shots for the Greyhounds in the loss.
Brantford went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Sault Ste. Marie was held scoreless on two opportunities.
The Bulldogs were assessed eight penalty minutes to the Greyhounds’ 14.
The win improved Brantford to 34-7-6-1 (75 points), maintaining first place in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulldogs have points in 11 straight games.
Brantford returns home Wednesday, Feb. 4, to host the Kingston Frontenacs at 7 p.m.
