The Hamilton Bulldogs have won their first game of the 2018 Mastercard Memorial Cup at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan. On Monday, the Bulldogs beat the Swift Current Broncos 2-1 in a tightly contested game.
Marian Studenic scored the game winning goal for the Bulldogs with only 2:01 left in the third period to break a 1-1 tie. A right winger from Holic, Slovakia, Studenic was the New Jersey Devils’s fifth round draft pick, 143rd overall in the 2017 National Hockey League Entry Draft.
Right winger MacKenzie Entwistle of Georgetown, Ontario scored the other goal for the Bulldogs. Like Studenic, Entwistle has been drafted into the National Hockey League. He was the third round draft pick, 69th overall, by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2017 National Hockey League Entry Draft.
The Bulldogs improved their record to one win and one loss with the victory over the Broncos. Swift Current fell to zero wins and two losses. Hamilton lost their opening game of the tournament 3-2 to the Regina Pats. The Broncos lost their opening game as well by a score of 4-3 in overtime to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday.
On Tuesday, the Bulldogs will face the Titan. If Acadie-Bathurst gets the victory, they get a bye to Sunday’s final for clinching first place during the round robin. Even though the Broncos have a record of zero wins and two losses, they still can force a tie-breaker game on Thursday if they beat the Pats on Wednesday.
