OHL Roundup: Bulldogs clinch first in East with win over Frontenacs

KINGSTON, Ont. - Ryerson Leenders earned a 30-save shutout as the Brantford Bulldogs downed the Kingston Frontenacs 4-0 on Friday to clinch top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Niko Krmpotic, Marek Vanacker, Adam Jiricek and Dylan Tsherna provided the offence for Brantford (43-19-5).

Charlie Schenkel surrendered four goals on 13 shots before making way for Mason Vaccari, who stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief for Kingston (40-19-5-3), midway through the game.

The result snapped Kingston's 16-game home win streak. The Frontenacs are now locked into third in the East and will face the Sudbury Wolves in the first round of the playoffs.

RANGERS 3 ATTACK 2

KITCHENER, Ont. - Jack Pridham netted the game-winning goal at 13:40 of the third period to lift Kitchener over Owen Sound.

Christian Humphreys and Trent Swick also scored for Kitchener (47-14-4-2), with Pridham assisting on both goals. Jackson Parsons made 26 saves in the win.

Pierce Mbuyi and Landen Hookey replied for Owen Sound (25-35-4-3), which got 36 stops from Matthew Koprowski.

Entering the third period tied at 1-1, Swick gave the Rangers their first lead at 7:48. But Mbuyi responded with a power-play marker at 12:05 before Pridham sealed it for Kitchener. 

The Attack are tied with the Sarnia Sting for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Each team has one game left. If they end up tied, they'll play a tiebreaker Tuesday.

BATTALION 5, ICEDOGS 4

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - Lirim Amidovski knocked in the game-winning goal at 14:41 of the third period as the North Bay Battalion edged the Niagara Icedogs 5-4.

Ihnat Pazii, Nick Wellenreiter, Ethan Procyszyn and Andrew LeBlanc also scored for North Bay (27-34-6). The Battalion need one point in their final game or one Ottawa 67's loss in their final two to clinch the final playoff spot in the East.

Noah Van Vliet, Ryan Roobroeck, Kevin He and Ivan Galiyanov replied for Niagara (29-30-4-4). The seventh-seeded IceDogs will face the Barrie Colts in the first round of the playoffs.

KNIGHTS 6, SPITFIRES 2

LONDON, Ont. - Denver Barkey had two goals and two assists as the league-leading London Knights defeated the Windsor Spitfires 6-2.

Kasper Halttunen and Sam Dickinson also scored twice for London (55-10-2), which scored four unanswered goals to break a 2-2 tie just past the midway mark of the second period.

Ryan Abraham and Jack Nesbitt replied for Windsor (45-17-4-2).

GREYHOUNDS 7, SPIRIT 4

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. - Noel Nordh had two goals and three assists to power the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds past the Saginaw Spirit 7-4. Soo clinched a playoff spot with the win.

Brady R Smith and Brady Martin, each with two goals, and Chase Reid provided the rest of the offence for Sault Ste. Marie (28-35-2-2).

Calem Mangone, with two goals, Dimian Zhilkin and Michael Misa scored for Saginaw (37-26-2-1).

STEELHEADS 6, PETES 1

BRAMPTON, Ont. - Konnor Smith had a hat trick and added two assists as the Brampton Steelheads cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Peterborough Petes.

Gabriel Chiarot, with two goals, and Porter Martone also contributed goals for Brampton (35-22-10). The Steelheads will face the Oshawa Generals in the first round of the playoffs.

Martin Matejicek scored for Peterborough (18-40-4-5).

STING 5, FIREBIRDS 2

SARNIA, Ont. - Tyson Doucette scored twice in leading the Sarnia Sting to a 5-2 win over the Flint Firebirds.

Mitch Young, Ruslan Karimov and Ryan Brown also scored for Sarnia (22-32-6-7), which led 3-2 entering the third period.

Josh Colosimo and Artem Frolov replied for Flint (28-33-2-3).

GENERALS 4, WOLVES 1

SUDBURY, Ont. -- Jacob Oster made 23 saves in helping push the Oshawa Generals past the Sudbury Wolves 4-1.

Zackary Sandhu, Noah Powell, Luca Marrelli and Lauri Sinivuori, with a short-handed goal, scored for Oshawa (40-21-4-2).

Rowan Henderson had the lone goal for Sudbury (32-30-5), which got 28 stops from Finn Marshall.