Hamilton Bulldogs beat Barrie, OHL playoff series tied 2-2

After dropping the first two games of their opening round OHL playoff series, the Hamilton Bulldogs held serve on home ice.

Nick Lardis had two goals and an assist as Hamilton topped the Barrie Colts 5-3 Tuesday night at FirstOntario Centre.

Cole Brown opened the scoring with a power-play goal 5:13 into the game before the Colts evened the score 69 seconds later when Declan McDonnell netted his fourth goal of the series.

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Jorian Donovan scored Hamilton’s second power-play goal early in the second period and teammate Adrian Rebelo added his third goal of the series to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 advantage heading into the second intermission.

The two teams traded goals early in the third period but the lead never changed hands.

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Ethan Cardwell brought the Colts within a goal of the Bulldogs when he scored 58 seconds into the final period, however Lardis restored Hamilton’s two-goal lead 2:12 later.

Barrie’s Braden Hache made it a one-goal game again when he beat Dogs goalie Matteo Drobac with just under 10 minutes to play in the game.

But Lardis potted his second goal with 4:05 remaining to seal the victory in front of 3,362 fans.

The Colts played the game without playoff scoring leader Brandt Clarke after he served a one game suspension for a knee-on-knee hit against Hamilton’s Lawson Sherk in Game 3 on Sunday.

Barrie will host Game 5 on Thursday night.