Saturday Highlights: Lardis scores 70th, Thomas sets record as Bulldogs win big

Brantford Bulldogs 11 at Saginaw Spirit 3

Chicago Blackhawks prospect Nick Lardis scores twice to reach the 70 goal milestone on the season. Lardis is the eighth player in OHL history to score 70+ goals and the first player since John Tavares in 2006-07
NHL Draft prospect Jake O’Brien scored his second hat trick of the season as he surpasses the 30 goal milestone for the first time in his OHL career, O’Brien also notched two assists for a five point performance
Washington Capitals prospect and Brantford captain Patrick Thomas become the all-time franchise points leader with his assist on Nick Lardis’ goal, he would add two more assists to officially surpass 100 points on the season
New Jersey Devils prospect Cole Brown also scored a pair of goals for the Bulldogs as they lay a beating on the Spirit in a seven goal second period
Chicago Blackhawks prospect Marek Vanacker recorded a five point game period as he hit the 20 goal marker for the second season in a row and notched four assists
Jacob Cloutier, Dimian Zhilkin, and Liam Storch found the back of the net for the Spirit in the blowout loss
Buffalo Sabres prospect Ryerson Leenders made 31 saves in the victory

Peterborough Petes 4 at Ottawa 67’s 3 (SO)

Edmonton Oilers prospect and former Ottawa 67’s forward Brady Stonehouse scored the game tying goal on the power play for the Petes to force overtime
After a scoreless five minutes of 3 on 3, the Petes would complete the comeback and win the game in the shootout as Caden Taylor would score on Peterborough’s first attempt
Columbus Blue Jackets prospect and Ottawa 67’s captain Luca Pinelli opened the scoring in the game for the 67’s with his 32nd goal of the season
Frankie Marrelli and Filip Ekberg both put up two point performances for Ottawa, notching two assists each
Quinton Pagé scored the Petes’ first goal of the game late in the second period
Zach Bowen stood strong in the Peterborough goal as he made 34 saves and an extra three in the shootout to secure the comeback victory for Peterborough

Owen Sound Attack 3 at Erie Otters 7

NHL Draft prospect Malcolm Spence put up a four point performance with two goals and two assists as he inches to one goal shy of his first 30 goal season in the OHL
Erie Otters forward Sam Alfano continues his career best season in goals as he scored his 37th of the year in the second period
Owen Sound Attack captain Landen Hookey continued his strong play this year, notching his 31st goal of the season
Gabriel Frasca had a two point night scoring an insurance goal and adding an assist on Wesley Royston’s goal
The Attack added two moer goals courtesy of Harry Nansi and Alec Leonard but couldn’t overcome the Otters onslaught
Tyler Challenger put in the game winning goal for the Otters late in the second period
Erie goaltender Charlie Burns stopped 35 of the 38 shots he faced to earn his fifth victory of the year
Erie wins their third straight game riding the high off clinching the OHL playoffs

Sarnia Sting 2 at Flint Firebirds 6

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Sam McCue scored his second hat trick of the season to hit the 30 goal mark on the year, this marks the first hat trick for the Firebirds at home since December 2022
Christopher Thibodeau had a two point performance, scoring a goal and assisting on McCUe’s hat trick goal
NHL Draft prospect Jimmy Lombardi had a three point night for the Firebirds, playing a key part in the victory
Alex Kostov, and Karlis Flugins also put in goals for the Firebirds
Daylen Moses and Liam Beamish scored the lone goals of the game for the Sting, scoring two straight in the third period to break the shutout
Nathan Day made 26 saves for his 25th win on the season

Oshawa Generals 4 at Soo Greyhounds 3 (SO)

Soo Greyhounds goaltender Nolan Lalonde had a busy night in goal as he stopped 42 of the 45 shots he faced, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Generals from completing the comeback in the shootout
Owen Griffin and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Luca Marrelli scored in the shootout to seal the comeback for Oshawa
Utah Hockey Club prospect Noel Nordh scores twice in regulation and also had a goal in the shootout for a solid night on offence
Marco Mignosa opened the scoring in the game with his 32nd goal of the season, he now has five goals in his last five games.
Brooks Rogowski reached the 10 goal mark on the season to spark the Generals offence and start the comeback effort
Philadelphia Flyers prospect tied the game late in the second period with his seventh goal of his campaign
Utah Hockey Club prospect Owen Allard earned his 100th career point, assisting on fellow Utah HC prospect Noel Nordh’s 16th goal of the season
Lauri Sinivuori scored just 52 seconds after Nordh’s second goal of the night to force overtime