Hamilton Bulldogs Growl their Way to a 4-1 Victory Over Grand Rapids Griffins - AHL

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MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - HAMILTON, ON – Ajay Baines had a goal and an assist to lead the Hamilton Bulldogs to a 4-1 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night in front of 6,579 spectators at Copps Coliseum. The Bulldogs record improves to 39-24-3-5 through 71 games this season.

Michael Lambert opened the scoring at 12:45 of the first period when he picked up a loose puck at the side of the Griffins’ net and beat goaltender Jimmy Howard with a low shot to the blocker side. Lambert’s 11^th goal of the season was unassisted.

Baines then gave the ‘Dogs a 2-0 first period lead 1:10 later, when he skated down the right side and unleashed a wrist shot over the glove of Howard. The unassisted goal was Baines’ 12^th marker of the campaign.

Hamilton went up 3-0 at 17:02 of the middle stanza when Dan Jancevski converted a tic-tac-toe passing play from Corey Locke and Andre Benoit on the power play.

Grand Rapids got on the board at 2:20 of the third period when Darryl Bootland beat Yann Danis with a wrist shot from just inside the left face-off circle to make the score 3-1. Matt Hussey and Dan Smith drew helpers on Bootland’s 19^th goal of the season.

The Bulldogs restored their three-goal lead at 6:08 of the final frame when Kyle Chipchura (MLN FAB50 Hockey 2007 No. 20) potted a rebound goal from close range after Howard stopped ‘Dogs forward Troy Bodie’s initial two shots. Chipchura’s 11^th tally of the campaign rounded out the scoring at 4-1 in favour of Hamilton.

Hamilton was 1-for-8 on the power play, while the Griffins went 0-for-7 with the extra-man.

Bulldogs netminder Yann Danis stopped 25 of 26 shots to earn his 20^th win of the season, while Griffins goalkeeper Jimmy Howard made 40 saves on 44 shots in a losing effort.