Brantford Bulldogs C Patrick Thomas tied Arthur Kaliyev for the franchise points record in the 4-3 overtime win over the Peterborough Petes on Saturday, March 1, 2025.
The Bulldogs were determined to maintain their lead in the Eastern Conference as they prepared to clash with the struggling Peterborough Petes, who were sitting at the bottom of the standings. After a subtle first four minutes, the Bulldogs generated the first scoring opportunity of the game. RW Marek Vanacker received the pass from the neutral zone and went on a breakaway, only for his shot to beat Petes G Easton Rye but off the crossbar.
Brantford opened the scoring 5:21 into the opening frame. Rye stopped the shot by D Niko Kromptic, but RW Calvin Crombie tapped home the rebound past the Peterborough netminder for his fourth of the season.
The top powerplay unit in the Ontario Hockey League went to work with less than five minutes left in the period and extended the lead. Just over a minute into the sequence, C Jake O’Brien passed the puck from up close in front of the Petes net to C Patrick Thomas who buried the puck past the left pad of Rye for his 25th goal of the season. O’Brien recorded his 150th career point in the Ontario Hockey League with the assist. After the first twenty minutes of play, the Bulldogs led 2-0 and outshot the visitors 15-5.
Early in the second period, D Tomas Hamara was rewarded a penalty shot, but his shot went wide of the Peterborough goal. Brantford G Ryerson Leenders, the reigning OHL Goalie of the Week, kept the Petes scoreless through more than twenty-eight minutes of play. But at 8:05, the Peterborough D Martin Matejicek shot at the right circle fooled Leenders glove side to cut the lead to 2-1. The Bulldogs brought the lead back to two with less than two minutes remaining in the period. From the right circle, O’Brien shot the puck at the Peterborough goal, but Thomas redirected the puck and past Rye left side for his 26th goal of the season.
Twenty-two seconds later, Bulldogs D Thomas Budnick received a match penalty for spearing, leaving the team with five defencemen and a shorter bench for the rest of the contest. The Bulldogs ranked third in the OHL in penalty kill and closed the period without damage. Early In the third period, the Petes capitalized on the man-advantage 1:38 into the third period on a goal by LW Quinton Page.
With 58.1 left and Rye on the bench for an extra attacker, the Petes tied the game courtesy of a Brady Stonehouse shot from point blank past the left shoulder of Leenders.
The game went into overtime, and the all-too-familiar connection sealed the game for the home side and made franchise history. Reigning OHL Player of the Month RW Nick Lardis received the backhand pass from Thomas, who sniped the one-timer for his 66th of the season and secured a thrilling victory for the Bulldogs and remained first place in the Eastern Conference.
