Brantford Bulldogs G Ryerson Leenders stopped 26 shots in a losing effort to the Kitchener Rangers by the score of 2-1 on Wednesday, January 2, 2025.
The Bulldogs peppered the Kitchener defence and G Jackson Parsons early in the first period, outshooting the visitors 5-1 at one point in the opening 2:35.
Midway through the period, the Bulldogs solved Parsons and got on the board. LW Marek Vanacker received the feed from D Owen Protz and went five-hole between the pads of Parsons for his fifth goal of the season.
Leenders, who played his 100th career OHL game last weekend against Owen Sound, kept a clean sheet in the first period as he stopped all seven Kitchener shots on goal.
Early In the second period, the Bulldogs looked to extend their lead. At 5:26, RW Zakary Lavoie and LW Cole Brown exchanged passes on a 2-on-1 breakaway, but Parsons made the highlight-reel pad save. Later in the period, the Bulldogs penalty kill, ranked seventh in the OHL, killed off the two-minute Kitchener power play with timely defence and allowed zero shots on goal while shorthanded.
Kitchener got the equalizer less than two minutes into the third period, courtesy of D Max Dirracolo. The Rangers heavily outshot the Bulldogs 14-3 in the final twenty minutes of regulation. But thanks to the excellent goaltending performance by Leenders, the game remained deadlocked at one at the end of regulation.
In overtime, RW Jack Pridham scored the winner for Kitchener with 38.4 seconds left.
