The Brantford Bulldogs earned a point but saw a third-period lead slip away in a 4–3 overtime loss to the Peterborough Petes on Sunday afternoon at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
Brantford led twice in the contest, including in the third period, but conceded the tying goal in the final minute of regulation before Peterborough secured the win on a power-play goal in overtime in Ontario Hockey League action.
Peterborough opened the scoring at 3:44 of the first period through Adam Novotný and carried a 1–0 lead into the first intermission.
The Bulldogs responded early in the second period when Marek Vanacker scored on the power play 32 seconds in, assisted by Jake O’Brien and Adam Jiříček.
Cooper Dennis gave Brantford a 2–1 advantage at 17:54, finishing a play set up by Caleb Malhotra and Jett Luchanko.
Matthew Soto replied for the Petes at 16:38 of the second period, sending the teams into the third period tied 2–2.
Dennis scored his second of the afternoon at 6:48 of the third to restore Brantford’s lead.
Peterborough forced overtime when Brennan Faulkner tied the game with 48 seconds remaining in regulation.
In the extra frame, Novotný netted his second goal of the game at 4:12 on the power play, with assists from James Petrovski and Kieron Walton, sealing the 4–3 victory.
Brantford goaltender David Egorov made 49 saves in the loss, while Easton Rye stopped 29 shots for Peterborough.
Both teams finished 1-for-3 on the power play. Each side was assessed eight penalty minutes.
With the overtime loss, Brantford improved to 39-9-7-2 on the season and remains atop the Eastern Conference standings with 87 points. Peterborough, which has also clinched a playoff berth, sits fourth with 69 points.
The Bulldogs return to action Wednesday at home in Brantford against the Brampton Steelheads.
