For the second straight game, the Brantford Bulldogs were outmatched on home ice, this time in a 7-2 thrashing by the Brampton Steelheads on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
With the division title and the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs in sight, the Bulldogs squared off with the Steelheads.
In the first period, the Steelheads dominated in all phases.
Reigning OHL and CHL Goalie of the Week, Ryerson Leenders started sharp by saving the first five Brampton shots on goal.
But the Steelheads solved their former teammate at the 5:13 mark. RW Porter Martone tucked home the rebound past the opened right side of the Bulldogs crease and past Leenders. Brantford looked to respond on a penalty shot from RW Nikolas Rossetto forty seconds later but was denied within inches of the goal line by Steelheads G Jack Ivankovic.
The Steelheads offence continued their pressure on Leenders and the Bulldogs defence, only for Leenders to shut the door as the period progressed. Brampton extended their lead to a pair with over eight minutes left. RW Gabriel Chairot intercepted the puck from Brantford D Tommy Budnick and went top corner past Leenders.
A scary moment for Bulldogs fans occurred late in the period as RW Nick Lardis went down with an injury in a collision with Steelheads D Finn Harding. Lardis remained in the game, but Harding received the game misconduct for his actions. Less than two minutes before the period ended, Martone notched his second goal of the game and gave the visitors a 3-0 lead.
After twenty minutes, the Steelheads outshot the Bulldogs 21-8 and led 3-0.
The middle frame was more of the same for the two teams. Four minutes into the period, Steelheads D Konnor Smith received a pass from RW Aidan Lane in front of the Bulldogs goal. With the right side of the net wide open, Smith capitalized the opening, and his shot just got past the sprawled Leenders for a 4-0 lead. Lane joined the goal-scoring tally for the Steelheads at the 8:59 mark. In a mad scramble at the Brantford crease, the rookie forward tucked in the puck past Leenders to give the visitors a commanding 5-0 lead.
LW Kieran Witkowski joined in the Steelheads goal-scoring barrage as he outmanned Leenders up close with a backhand shot to make it a 6-0 lead with seven minutes left. The Bulldogs finally got on the board before the end of the period. With under five minutes to go in the period, C Jake O’Brien dished the puck to D Thomas Budnick, whose shot from the blue line fooled Ivankovic and into the net for his fourth as a Bulldog.
The Steelheads held a solid 6-1 lead through forty minutes of play. Prior to the start of the third period, David Egorov relieved Leenders in goal for the Bulldogs. This marked the second consecutive home game for Egorov to appear in relief. Leenders stopped 27 of 33 shots in two periods, but the lacklustre performance from the Bulldogs defence led to his departure.
Egorov stopped 12 of 13 shots in the final frame, with the lone goal allowed by Steelheads C Jack Van Volsen with 4:44 left.
With over three minutes remaining, Bulldogs rookie C Aiden O’Donnell impressed the home crowd. Behind the Brampton crease, O’Donnell outplayed two Steelheads players and fired a shot up close past Ivankovic for his seventh of the year.
