Bulldogs lose to Marlies 6-5 in SO but youth is leading the way to success

Rick Stephens

December 8, 2008

From Hamiltonbulldogs.com:

The Hamilton Bulldogs were defeated in overtime 6-5 by the Toronto Marlies in front of 5,741 fans on Sunday evening at Copps Coliseum. The 11th annual “Stuffed Toy Toss Night” saw 1,873 new stuffed toys thrown onto the ice following Mathieu Carle’s goal in the first period.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring at 4:21 of the first frame while on the power play. Mathieu Carle skated in from the blue line before receiving a pass from Ryan White. Carle one-timed the puck past the glove of Toronto starting goaltender Justin Pogge. Following the goal, fans covered the ice with new stuffed toys. J.T. Wyman recorded his first goal of the season at 6:28. Wyman received a pass from Shawn Belle before banking the puck off the back of Pogge’s leg and into the net.

Toronto cut Hamilton’s lead in half at 11:31 of the first frame. Tim Stapleton blasted a shot that was tipped down by Jiri Tlusty in front of the net. The puck bounced onto the stick of Darryl Boyce, who took a shot that beat Hamilton starting goaltender Cedrick Desjardins on the glove side.

Yannick Weber added the Bulldogs third goal and second power-play marker of the game at 2:39 of the middle frame. Kyle Chipchura sent a pass to Weber who blasted a slapshot that beat Pogge on the short side. The ‘Dogs scored their fourth goal at 15:32. Chipchura snapped a shot that squeaked through the pads of Pogge. The assist and goal extended Chipchura’s point-streak to five games.

The Marlies made the game 4-2 on a goal by Boyd Devereaux at 19:38 of the second stanza. Stapleton fired a shot that was saved by Desjardins. Devereaux grabbed the rebound before sending the puck past a sprawling Desjardins.

Hamilton added to their lead 53 seconds into the final frame when Belle fired a slap shot from the left side-boards that went through Pogge’s five-hole. Yanick Lehoux and Ryan White also earned assists on the play.

The Marlies responded while on the power play at 1:52 of the third stanza. Tlusty grabbed a rebound in front of the net before burying the puck past Desjardins. Toronto made the game 5-4 on a goal by Alex Foster at 9:57 of the final stanza. Josef Boumedienne blasted a shot that went off the leg of Foster and over the blocker of Desjardins.

Toronto tied the game at 14:53 in the third period after Ben Ondrus dumped the puck in from the blue line. The puck took an odd bounce and went past Desjardins. Bates Battaglia and Phil Oreskovic picked up assists on the play. The goal sent the game to overtime.

With 29 seconds remaining in the game the Marlies capped off their come back with a penalty shot goal. Boyce scored his second goal of the game after he beat Desjardins on the penalty shot.

Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

1. HAM – Mathieu Carle – 3 (Ryan White, Brock Trotter) – 4:21 (PP)
2. HAM – J.T. Wyman – 1 (Shawn Belle) – 6:28
3. TOR – Darryl Boyce – 5 (Jiri Tlusty, Tim Stapleton) – 11:31 (PP)

2nd Period:

4. HAM – Yannick Weber – 5 (Kyle Chipchura, Ben Maxwell) – 2:39 (PP)
5. HAM – Kyle Chipchura – 9 (Ryan Russell) – 15:32
6. TOR – Boyd Devereaux – 5 (Tim Stapleton, Josef Boumedienne) – 19:38

3rd Period:

7. HAM – Sean Belle – 2 (Yanick Lehoux, Ryan White) – 0:53
8. TOR – Jiri Tlusty – 5 (Darryl Boyce, Staffan Kronwall) – 1:52 (PP)
9. TOR – Alex Foster – 3 (Josef Boumedienne, Tim Stapleton) – 9:57 (PP)
10. TOR – Ben Ondrus – 3 (Bates Battaglia, Phil Oreskovic) – 14:53

OT:

11. Darryl Boyce – 6 – 4:31 (PS)

Scoring:

Hamilton: 2-2-1-0–5

Toronto: 1-1-3-1–6

Shots:

Hamilton: 11-6-12-3–32

Toronto: 5-6-8-1–20

Goaltending:

Hamilton: Cedrick Desjardins (20 shots, 14 saves)
Toronto: Justin Pogge (32 shots, 27 saves)

Power Play:

Hamilton: 2-for-6
Toronto: 3-for-4

Three Stars:

1. TOR – Tim Stapleton (3 assists, +1, 1 shot)

2. HAM – Shawn Belle (1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 2 shots)

3. TOR – Darryl Boyce (2 goals, 1 assist, +1, 4 shots)

Flamboro Downs Workhorse: Yannick Weber

Video Highlights: Hamilton vs Toronto

Habster:

The Hamilton Bulldogs are starting to have consistency problems of late and it all starts with their poor penalty killing play.

The Bulldogs PK unit is ranked 22nd in the 29 team AHL (All Defense Penalty Killing Stats) and has been the team’s Achilles heel the last six games (2-3-1), allowing 13 goals on 30 powerplay opportunities. In other words, a pitiful 56.7% success rate which is an unacceptable rate for a team that started the season with solid PK unit play and a league leading 9 shorthaned goals.

The good news is that the Bulldogs are ranked as the seond highest scoring team in the AHL with 95 goals, just behind the Hersey Bears’114 goals.

While the Hamilton’s PK unit is struggling these days, the powerplay unit has started to heat up the last few games, going 12 for 38 (31.6%) in their last seven games. The team has slowly worked their way up the overall PP ranking and presently sit at the 10th spot with a 20.4% success rate (All Offense Power Play Stats).

The catalyst of the recent PP success has been the play of Yannick Weber who has four powerplay points (G-3 A-1) in the last four games. His heavy shots are finally getting to the net with just enough traffic set up in front of the net, something Don Lever has been preaching to his players to do with more frequency. If Weber can continue to produce points on a consistent basis and improve his defensive zone coverage, something that appears to be happening under the watchful eyes of Don Lever and Ron Wilson, then there might be an opportunity to join the Canadiens if their powerplay continue to struggle.

Kyle Chipchura is also producing on the PP with three points in the last four games (G-1 A-2) while Ben Maxwell has been playing great on the point (A-3), setting up Weber’s one timers from the point and being his usual playmaking self.

Like Chipchura, another player who has displayed more than a solid defensive game is Ryan White. “Chipper” and White have slowly but surely moved up the team’s scoring chart and are playing a solid two way game. White has always been able to score points at the junior level but some scouts were concerned with his average to below average foot speed at the AHL level. It doesn’t seem to be a problem as his constant hustle, improving skating stride and smart positional play has allowed him to keep pace with the faster pace of the AHL game.

Overall, the team’s success is being driven by the great young prospects within the Habs organization which is great news for the future.