Brantford Bulldogs kicked off the second round of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) playoffs with a 5-2 victory over the Oshawa Generals on Thursday, April 10, 2025.
Brantford and Oshawa came out tentatively to begin their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final series. The Generals then carried the play through the next minute, recording three shots on goal before the game was two minutes old. Oshawa controlled most of the play, spending stretches in the offensive zone, leading to the opening goal four minutes in after a shot from the point beat Bulldogs G Ryerson Leenders for the early 1-0 lead.
The goal by Generals D Luca Marrelli fired up the visitors, who found their legs, outplaying the Dogs for the next three minutes. Brantford had a chance to get back in the game when they were awarded their first powerplay seven and a half minutes into the opening period. The Bulldogs recorded one shot with the man advantage but Oshawa had two quality short-handed chances, both which were turned away by Leenders.
Oshawa killed off the penalty and then took it to the Bulldogs outplaying and outworking the home team in their own zone, leading to the Generals second goal when C Owen Griffin buried a rebound past Leenders. Griffin was cut by a high-stick after scoring the goal, giving the visitors a four-minute powerplay as well as the 2-0 lead. Oshawa generated several scoring chances with the man advantage but Brantford settled down defensively, killing off the double minor.
Brantford finally found their legs in the last three minutes of the opening frame, getting their first stretch of sustained pressure in the Generals zone but it was short-lived as Oshawa responded with o-zone pressure of their own. Brantford pushed back in the final seconds but after 20 minutes Oshawa held a 2-0 lead, outshooting the Dogs, 19-8.
The Generals came out flying to start the second stanza, spending the opening minute in the Bulldogs zone. The Generals’ strong puck pressure and puck possession game led to their second powerplay 54 seconds into the middle frame when Leenders was called for tripping. The Bulldogs played well, killing off the early penalty to keep the Generals at bay. After killing off the powerplay, Leenders left the game with an undisclosed injury and was replaced by G David Egorov.
Brantford finally found their legs just over five minutes into the period, gaining the offensive zone, making a couple of great passes before Dogs D Thomas Budnick buried a rebound past Generals G Jacob Oster to get back within one, 2-1. One minute after getting on the scoreboard, Brantford went back on the penalty kill after LW Marek Vanacker was sent off for slashing. The Bulldogs killed off the penalty and then went on the attack briefly before a scrum led to four-on-four hockey for a couple of minutes.
Both teams found their legs in the middle stages of the second period, exchanging rushes and chances for the next several minutes then the Bulldogs got the equalizer when Dogs RW Cole Brown broke down the far wing took a cross-ice pass and ripped it top shelf past Oster to tie things up at two. Brantford continued to pressure the Generals, scoring the go-ahead goal less than two minutes later. Dogs C Luca Testa gained the zone, drove hard to the net with the rebound going to Jake O’Brien, who made a great behind the back, cross-crease pass to Testa who put it into an open net, giving the home team their first lead of the game, 3-2.
Even though they were outshot 18-9 in the period, Brantford scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission.
Oshawa and Brantford came out quickly to start the final frame, battling in the neutral zone through the first 90 seconds. Neither team could muster much sustained pressure in the offensive zone over the first three minutes then the Generals took control, using their puck possession game to hem the Bulldogs in their own zone for a full minute but couldn’t get the equalizer.
After more offensive zone pressure from Oshawa, the Bulldogs went back on the powerplay after Oshawa D Luca D’Amato was called for holding. Brantford moved the puck around the outside with the man advantage, and with less than a minute left, O’Brien went down low, fired the puck on net, which was deflected by Vanacker past Oster to give the Dogs a 4-2 lead.
Both teams traded chances during the middle stages of the final frame, with the Generals spending more time in the offensive zone and the Bulldogs getting a couple of chances off the rush. The teams continued to battle down the stretch but, with just over five minutes left, the Generals headed back to the powerplay after Brantford D Tomas Hamara was called for holding. With the man advantage, the Generals couldn’t muster any offence only recording one shot on goal while the Dogs killed it off with ease.
Brantford played solid defensively over the last three minutes and with 1:50 left in the game, Oshawa pulled Oster for the extra attacker. The Generals pressured in the Dogs zone but Lardis scored an empty-net goal as Brantford held on for the 5-2 victory and the 1-0 series lead.
Brantford and Oshawa will battle again in game two on Sunday, April 13, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. when the Dogs try to take a 2-0 series lead.
