Brantford Bulldogs wrapped up their regular season with a 7-2 victory over the Ottawa 67’s on Sunday, March 23, 2025.
The Bulldogs put the pressure on the 67’s in the opening eight-plus minutes of the period. One notable highlight came at 7:56 when rookie D Luca Diplacido shot the puck from a tough angle but was stopped by Ottawa G Collin MacKenzie.
But just twenty-five seconds later, the Bulldogs found paydirt. In front of the Ottawa net, RW Daniel Chen capitalized on a mad scramble and buried his shot past MacKenzie for his second goal of the season. Diplacido tallied his first career point in the Ontario Hockey League with an assist.
With 9:15 to go in the period, the Bulldogs almost extended their lead by a shot from D Ben Radley, but MacKenzie managed to stop the puck before it crossed the goal line. Ottawa responded with 7:04 to go. LW Filip Ekberg shot the puck from the left circle through a screen, which got past the right shoulder of Bulldogs G David Egorov.
Before the period ended, the Bulldogs retook the lead. With 48.2 seconds left, C Noah Nelson led a two-on-one breakaway. Nelson then made a great sharp pass to RW Nikolas Rossetto in front of the Ottawa goal and beat the outstretched MacKenzie.
In the second period, the Bulldogs took over the game and wasted no time. Nelson kicked off the goal-scoring barrage as he tapped in the loose puck past the Ottawa netminder MacKenzie for his ninth of the season twenty-two seconds in. At the 6:21 mark, LW Dylan Tsherna, while checked by an Ottawa player in the crease, backhanded his shot past MacKenzie. Despite the coach’s challenge from the 67’s, the goal counted.
Egorov continued his strong play from the first period as he stopped 15 out of 16 Ottawa shots in the middle frame. The most notable save of the game by Egorov came at 7:44 when he stopped a breakaway shot attempt by Ottawa C Zach Houben. The home side patted their lead with 4:29 left as LW Braeden O’Keefe received the boarding pass from Chen, went on a breakaway and went five-hole on MacKenzie for his first of the season. With over two minutes left in the period, Bulldogs D Niko Krmpotic scored his second of the year from the right circle, going top corner past the Ottawa netminder to make it 6-1. A late-period goal from D Kohyn Eshkawkogan gave Ottawa hope as the game went into intermission with the Bulldogs up 6-2.
The final period of the regular season was a spirited one. Both sides conceded multiple penalties, highlighted by a fight between Chen and Ottawa D Kaleb Dietsch. Brantford scored one more with 48.2 seconds left. C Layne Gallacher made a great cross-ice pass to Nikolas Rossetto, who made no mistake for his ninth of the season and second of the game. Chen received the first star of the game for his Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist and a fight). Egorov stopped 33 of 35 shots for his first win since January 31, 2025.
The Bulldogs road to the OHL Championship begins when they host the North Bay Battalion in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series on Friday, March 28, 2025.
(1) Brantford Bulldogs vs. (8) North Bay Battalion
Game 1 – Friday, March 28 at Brantford, 7:00pm
Game 2 – Sunday, March 30 at Brantford, 7:00pm
Game 3 – Tuesday, April 1 at North Bay, 7:00pm
Game 4 – Thursday, April 3 at North Bay, 7:00pm
Game 5 – Saturday, April 5 at Brantford, 7:00pm*
Game 6 – Sunday, April 6 at North Bay, 6:00pm*
Game 7 – Tuesday, April 8 at Brantford, 7:00pm*
- Game played (if necessary)
