Bulldogs suffer more overtime agony as Lions roar back
CLOSE CALL: Bulldogs’ goalie Jack Mickevicius sees his goal come under pressure from Nottingham at The Pound on Sunday. Picture: Jason Devanney/View From Up Here Photography
BRADFORD BULLDOGS suffered overtime agony for a third time this season when they saw Nottingham Lions 2 stage a stunning comeback to win 8-7 at The Pound.
The hosts had twice got themselves into promising positions in front of a healthy crowd at Bradford Ice Arena on Sunday, only to let them slip and take just the one point.
Dave Williams’ team produced probably their best 20 minutes of the season at the start of the game as they carried a 5-0 lead into the second period.
Nottingham - without a win all season prior to their trip to West Yorkshire - somehow pulled it back to 6-6, only to seemingly see their hard work undone when the Bulldogs regained the lead with just under two minutes remaining.
But the visitors’ were able to pull themselves level for a second time with just 15 seconds remaining of regulation, taking the game into overtime where they sealed the deal.
READY FOR ACTION: Bulldogs players preparing for their clash with Nottingham. Picture: Jason Devanney/View From Up Here Photography
The Bulldogs were good value for their 2-0 lead after 10 minutes when Ollie Massey added to Jared Knowles’ seventh-minute opener.
Josh Stockton, Connor Medley and Paul Lane all then got on the scoresheet to put the hosts in a commanding position with the expectation being they would go on to see the game out.
But the Lions were the next team to find the net, through Jake Fisher at 27.51, and then made it 5-2 through Ethan Wilcox eight minutes later.
From the resulting face-off, Jordan fired in a long-range effort to restore the four-goal advantage for the hosts, only for Nottingham to reduce the arrears again when Charlie Davenport beat Jack Mickevicius just 71 seconds later.
A little over six minutes into the third period, the teams were tied.
What they had threatened in the second, the Lions delivered on even more in the early part of the third period.
Fisher doubled his tally and made it 6-4 less than two minutes in before Harry Molson made it a one-goal game four minutes later.
A remarkable turnaround continued when the visitors hauled themselves level at 46.05 through Edward Clark.
Thankfully, the Bulldogs steadied the ship and exchanged chances in more or less equal measure for the next 10 minutes or so.
With just under two minutes remaining, they got themselves back in front through Josh Stockton.
It looked like that would be enough - even if harsh on Nottingham - but a failure to clear the zone from a face-off allowed Rupert Sharpe to fire through traffic and into Mickevicius’ top left-hand corner to level the game with just 15 seconds remaining.
It was enough to guarantee Nottingham their first point of the season before 3-on-3 overtime arrived.
It was Nottingham who enjoyed more zone time, duly getting their reward when Fisher beat Mickevicius from close range, securing not only his hat-trick but the Lions’ first win of the season.