Brantford Bulldogs LW Nick Lardis tallied four points and reached 100 career points with the Bulldogs in a 5-1 victory over the Sarnia Sting on Wednesday, October 9, 2024.
The Bulldogs controlled the pace early in the first period and outshot the Sting 5-0 through the opening eight minutes.
Brantford opened the scoring at the 5:26 mark when Bulldogs C Patrick Thomas passed the puck to Lardis, who fired his patented one-timer past Sting G Nick Surzycia. With the goal, Lardis recorded his 100th career point as a member of the Bulldogs franchise.
Bulldogs G Ryerson Leenders was looking for his first victory as a member of the black and gold. Leenders faced limited opportunities from the Sting in the opening frame but made a giant pad save on Sarnia LW Ruslan Karimlov with five minutes remaining.
The Bulldogs extended their lead in the closing seconds of the period after Dogs LW Luca Testa made a swift move on a Sting defender and fired a slap shot from the middle of the attacking zone, beating Surzycia for his first of the season. Sarnia sliced the deficit in half 6:23 into the second period, courtesy of Sting C Beckham Edwards, who tucked his rebound past the left pad of Leenders.
Sixteen seconds after the Bulldogs killed off a Sting powerplay, the home side took a 3-1 lead when Lardis set up teammate C Jake O’Brien for the one-timer past Surzycia from the right boards in the attacking zone.
In the third period, the Bulldogs iced the game away. First, at the 3:30 mark, RW Calvin Crombie broke the puck free from the scrum at the backboard in the attacking zone and found Lardis for the one-timer past Surzycia to make it 4-1. Then, with under five minutes left, Lardis completed his second career hat trick and four-point game.
Alongside Lardis’ performance, Leenders secured his first win as a Bulldog with 26 saves, Crombie had a career-high three points, and Thomas had a pair of assists in the convincing 5-1 victory.
