The Barons and Bulldogs battle for the puck in front of Oklahoma goaltender Martin Gerber Saturday, April 16, 2011. (Photo by Pellerins Photography)

 

---

PRE-GAME

Series Preview Game Preview Game Notes Video interviews Audio Interviews

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Watch Video Highlights. Ben Ondrus, Richard Petiot, Bryan Helmer & Head Coach Todd Nelson react to the 2-1 game 2 loss

AUDIO

Ben Ondrus Richard Petiot Bryan Helmer OKC head coach Todd Nelson

THREE STARS

Drew MacIntyre - HAM Nigel Dawes - HAM Teemu Hartikainen - OKC

UPDATE

With the loss, the Barons fall to 0-2 in this best-of-seven AHL North Division Semi-final.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Barons and Bulldogs continue their best-of-seven series with Game 3 in Oklahoma City Tuesday evening. The game starts at 7:05 p.m. MDT. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN LIVE

Despite scoring the game's first goal and crafting a commanding 39-23 shot lead after 60 minutes, the Barons were backstopped out of the win column by Bulldogs netminder Drew MacIntyre Saturday afternoon.

FIRST PERIOD

Thanks in part to an early holding minor to Hamilton's Alex Henry, Oklahoma City crafted a 8-1 shot lead by the seven-minute mark. At that time, a cross-checking minor to Barons defenceman Jake Taylor helped the Bulldogs narrow the gap.

Near the period's midway point, consecutive Barons penalties offered the Bulldogs a 36-second five-on-three, but the Bulldogs squandered the opportunity by taking a penalty of their own only six seconds later.

As penalty box doors opened and closed, goaltenders Martin Gerber and MacIntyre kept the game scoreless.

17 minutes and 17 shots into the game, a lamp was finally lit. With help from Colin McDonald, Oklahoma's Brad Moran slipped the puck past MacIntyre to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Shortly after the goal, a shoving match between Zack Stortini and Jimmy Bonneau netted coincidental roughing minors and an interference minor to Stortini.

Although Oklahoma survived the penalty kill (their fourth of the period), Hamilton's Andreas Engqvist fired home a rebound only three seconds later, securing a tie-game heading into the middle frame.

SECOND PERIOD

Another Barons penalty, this time to Linus Omark, soon resulted in another Bulldogs power-play goal. 1:03 into the period, Nigel Dawes wristed the puck past Gerber to give the home team their first lead of the game.

After the goal, Oklahoma refocused and kept steady pressure on MacIntyre. The Bulldogs netminder was stellar, however, and kept an equalizer off the board.

A late penalty to Bryan Helmer ensured the Barons would start the final frame up three shots but down one goal and one man.

THIRD PERIOD

The Barons cracked 30 shots midway through the third period while the Bulldogs sat at 21. The desperate visitors kept it up as the period progressed, approaching 40 shots by the final buzzer. 

The effort failed to force extra time, however, and Hamilton finished with a 2-1 win and 2-0 series lead.