The Brantford Bulldogs opened the 2025 OHL playoffs with a 6-3 win over the North Bay Battalion in game one of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Friday, March 28, 2025.
The Bulldogs began their quest for the J. Ross Robertson Trophy as they faced the North Bay Battalion. In front of a raucous crowd at the Madhouse on Market Street, the Bulldogs gave the fans a roar early. At 2:34, C Patrick O’Brien made a great pass from the boards to RW Nikolas Rossetto in front of the Battalion net. The rookie buried his shot past Battalion G Mike McIvor for a 1-0 Brantford lead.
After successfully ended the Battalion penalty, the Bulldogs extended the lead. In the closing seconds of the powerplay, D Thomas Budnick passed the puck to D Lucas Moore, whose one-timer just got through the pads of McIvor for the 2-0 lead.
Brantford increased their lead at the midway point of the period. In the centre line, LW Marek Vanacker intercepted the puck and passed the puck to RW Calvin Crombie for the one-timer past the glove side of McIvor. The Bulldogs entered the first intermission with a solid 3-0 lead.
Bulldogs G Ryerson Leenders had a low-key first period but made several quality saves in the middle frame. The first notable save came at 6:15 with a huge, highlight-reel glove save on Battalion C Ethan Procyszyn. Brantford killed off two subsequent penalties near the halfway mark, but North Bay scored with 9:32 left from LW Lirim Amidovski.
But the Bulldogs responded with 7:26 left in the period. LW Cole Brown dished the puck to C Patrick Thomas deep in their attacking zone. Thomas then shot the puck, which trickled past McIvor and inadvertently touched by Batallion D Bronson Ride and past the goal line.
Less than a minute later, the Bulldogs returned to the power play after Battalion LW Reyth Smith dropped Bulldogs RW Nick Lardis to the ice.
On the powerplay, the Bulldogs capitalized on the man advantage for the second time. With fourteen seconds left, D Tomas Hamara set up a great screen, and D connected the pass to Thomas. Thomas then made a sharp pass to O’Brien, and the second-year forward sniped one past McIvor for a 5-1 Bulldogs lead. Bulldogs C Joshua Avery looked to add to the goal tally on the breakaway ninety seconds later but was denied by Battalion netminder McIvor.
A late-period goal by North Bay RW Nick Wellenreiter gave the visitors life. The Battalion pressed on with a minute left, but Leenders preserved the lead as he robbed D Jacob LeBlanc of a goal.
The third period saw the two sides exchanged goals. North Bay inched closer to make it 5-3 after the goal from RW Jacob Therrien. The Battalion yanked McIvor with 2:26 left and looked to pull a last-minute comeback. But Brantford would seal the game courtesy of an empty net goal from the stick of the country’s top goal scorer, Lardis. Leenders stopped 30 of 33 shots in a well-earned win.
