Bulldogs edge Mitchell Hawks, 3-2, Friday night

By: John Adams December 15, 2014 1903

Bulldogs edge Mitchell Hawks, 3-2, Friday night

The Nicol Insurance Kincardine Junior "C" Bulldogs edged the Mitchell Hawks, 3-2, in their lone game Friday night at the Davidson Centre.

The Hawks have been having anything but a smooth flight in the early part of the Junior "C" season and entered the game sitting in last place in the standings.

Mitchell came out of the gate strong, catching the exam-shortened Bulldogs’ bench a little on its heels, and scoring the opening goal of the game at the 1:21 mark, to take an early lead.

Kincardine looked a step behind for most of the opening period, but picked up that pace when the 'Dogs went to the powerplay compliments of a roughing minor to Adam Zehr at the 14:35 mark.

The 'Dogs needed just over a minute to capitalize when Shawn Moore put the finishing touches on some sharp passing from Mike Smailes and Jordan Van Haelemeesch, tying the game at 1-1.

The second period continued to showcase the strong forechecking of the Hawks, keeping the 'Dogs at bay. But then Luke Czuczman pounced on a puck that seemed to mesmerize the Hawks goalie and defender, hammering the loose puck into the twine to vault the 'Dogs into a 2-1 lead at the 18:29 mark of the second.

The teams exchanged pleasantries after a check along the boards, and when the dust settled the Hawks were sent to the powerplay, which carried over into the third period.

With Mitchell on the powerplay, it was Moore leading the way for the 'Dogs, charging into the Mitchell zone shorthanded after being sprung by a heads-up pass from Matthew Mah.

Moore went forehand-backhand and the puck found nothing but twine to increase Kincardine’s lead to 3-1 at the 0:34 second mark of the third.

Kincardine focused on team defence from that point on, and while Mitchell did manage to draw within one at the 18:27 mark, the 'Dogs closed the game out strong, taking the victory by a final of 3-2.

The 'Dogs stay firmly positioned in third place, and will next host the league-leading Walkerton Hawks, Friday night, before taking to the road for a game in Mount Forest Saturday. Puck drops in the 'Doghouse on Friday night at 8:30, so we’ll see you at the rink.