February 20, 2008
HAMILTON 5 QUAD CITY 1
MOLINE, IL – Mikhail Grabovski had a goal and two assists and was named first star for the fifth consecutive game to lead the Hamilton Bulldogs to their season-high fifth-straight win with a 5-1 triumph over the Quad City Flames on Wednesday night at I Wireless Center. With the win, the Bulldogs’ record improves to 28-21-1-5 on the season.
Duncan Milroy struck first for the Bulldogs at 15:03 of the opening frame with his 13th goal of the season. Corey Locke fired a shot towards the Flames’ net and Milroy was there to pick up the rebound and tuck in the 1-0 goal.
Quad City responded at 5:26 of the middle stanza courtesy of a Tim Ramholt marker. Ramholt took a pass from Krys Kolanos and, with a crowd in front of Hamilton’s net, beat netminder Jaroslav Halak with a shot from the point.
The Bulldogs added two more goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. At the 9:10 mark on a power play, Grabovski continued his hot hand, posting his sixth tally in the last five games to make the score 2-1. Hamilton took a two-goal lead with just 29 seconds left in the frame when Grabovski set up Matt D’Agostini for his 17th goal of the campaign.
With two more goals in the third period, Hamilton sealed the 5-1 win. Marvin Degon notched his seventh goal of the season at the 8:45 mark to give the Bulldogs a 4-1 advantage. Grabovski (1-2-3) and Locke (0-3-3) each picked up their third point of the night with assists on Degon’s goal. At 18:07 of the frame, Kyle Chipchura then rounded out the scoring with an empty-net shorthanded tally.
Between the pipes, Halak stopped 25 of 26 shots to earn the win for Hamilton, while McElhinney made 21 saves on 25 shots in a losing effort for Quad City.
The Bulldogs out duelled their opponent on special teams in the game, going 2-for-10 on the power play and 7-for-8 on the penalty kill.
With another goal and two more assists on the night, Grabovski extended his scoring streak to five games (Feb. 15-20), totalling 16 points (6-10-16) in that span. Over that period, Grabovski also has three game-winning goals, a game-tying goal, a plus-4 rating, 16 shots and six penalty minutes.
D’Agostini is also now on a five-game point streak (Feb. 15-20) with eight points (4-4-8) and Corso extended his team-high assist streak to six games (Feb. 13-20) with eight helpers in that span.
The defending Calder Cup Champion Hamilton Bulldogs’ next game is on Saturday, February 23rd at 7:00 p.m. when they return home to Copps Coliseum to take on the Houston Aeros. Tickets for all ‘Dogs home games are available at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, any Ticketmaster outlet, online at www.ticketmaster.ca, or through charge-by-phone at 905-527-7666. For more information or to purchase season tickets call 905-529-8500, e-mail tickets@hamiltonbulldogs.com or visit www.hamiltonbulldogs.com.
Fans can listen to every Bulldogs game on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, 820 CHAM. Fans can also listen or watch at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com by clicking on the ‘B2 Networks’ or ‘820 CHAM’ icon on the ‘Dogs website. All regular-season radio and online broadcasts will begin with a pre-game show 20 minutes prior to each scheduled game-time.
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
1. HAM – Duncan Milroy-13 (Corey Locke, Daniel Corso) – 15:03
2nd Period:
2. QCY– Tim Ramholt-3 (Krys Kolanos, Carsen Germyn) – 5:26 (pp)
3. HAM – Mikhail Grabovski-6 (Marvin Degon, Corey Locke) – 9:10 (pp)
4. HAM – Matt D’Agostini-17 (Mikhail Grabovski, Brett Engelhardt) – 19:31
3rd Period:
5. HAM – Marvin Degon-7 (Mikhail Grabovski, Corey Locke) – 8:45 (pp)
6. HAM – Kyle Chipchura-4 (Jean-Philippe Cote) – 18:07 (en.sh)
Scoring:
Hamilton: 1-2-2--5
Quad City: 0-1-0--1
Shots:
Hamilton: 9-9-8--26
Quad City: 4-6-16--26
Goaltending:
Hamilton: Jaroslav Halak (26 shots, 25 saves)
Quad City: Curtis McElhinney (25 shots, 21 saves)
Power Play:
Hamilton: 2-for-10
Quad City: 1-for-8
Attendance: 2,524
Three Stars:
1. HAM – Mikhail Grabovski (1g, 2a, 3pts, +1, 4 shots)
2. HAM – Corey Locke (0g, 3a, 3pts, +1)
3. QCY – Tim Ramholt (1g, 0a, 1pt, 1 shot)
Flamboro Downs Workhorse of the Game: Marvin Degon (1g, 1a, 2pts, +1, 4 shots)
