Bulldogs advance to semifinal

SAINT JOHN - The Hamilton Bulldogs are semifinal bound.

Mason McTavish netted a pair of goals - including the game-winner - and an assist in the Bulldogs' 4-2 round-robin victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday at TD Station.

The Bulldogs needed to win in regulation time in order to advance. They did just that, never trailing in their first win of the tournament.

Hamilton advances to Monday's semifinal with the win where they'll play either the Saint John Sea Dogs or Shawinigan Cataractes. The Oil Kings, meanwhile, are heading home.

The last WHL champion to finish the round robin in first place was the 2008 Spokane Chiefs.

— OHL Arena Guide (@ohlarenaguide) June 25, 2022

Avery Hayes and Ryan Winterton also had Hamilton goals. Marco Costantini was very good in net, making 40 saves in the win

Jalen Luypen and Jake Neighbours scored for Edmonton. Sebastian Cossa made 32 stops in the loss.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring on a power play when Hayes swept the puck under Cossa at 9:09 of the opening frame. Hayes has now scored in each of Hamilton's three games at the Memorial Cup.

Winterton scored his third of the tournament on a power play at 16:47, tapping in a pass from Logan Morrison to give Hamilton a 2-0 lead at intermission. There were plenty of shots in the first period with Hamilton outshooting Edmonton 19-16.

Edmonton got on the board just 2:03 into the third when Luypen scored a shorthanded marker, making it a 2-1 game.

McTavish restored Hamilton's two-goal lead with 6:34 remaining in the third, ripping a quick shot from the faceoff dot past Cossa.

With Cossa on the bench, Neighbours scored at 17:14 to get Edmonton back within one but that would be as close as they would get. McTavish added an empty net goal at the buzzer to make it a 4-2 final.

A few other notes...

• Former Sea Dogs defenseman Thomas Chabot was in attendance and performed the ceremonial puck drop.
• Hamilton's Nathan Staios left the game in the second period after taking a hard hit into the boards. There was no penalty for the hit. Staios did not return to the game.
• Attendance was 4,856
• The King's County Big River Ramblers performed at first and second intermissions.
• The 50/50 winner took home $14,273.