The Brantford Bulldogs will be thankful for a few days off after suffering their first losing streak of the season.

Brantford dropped its third straight decision, 4-3 in a shootout to the Ottawa 67’s Sunday at the TD Civic Centre. It’s the first time the new-look squad has faced adversity since sprinting out of the gate with seven straight wins.

Despite the mini skid, coach Michael Babcock’s club still leads the Eastern Conference with a 7-2-1 record.

The rookie bench boss took a positive approach after Sunday’s contest, as the effort was a solid bounce back from Saturday’s loss to Kingston, as shown by the 44-20 outshot.

“I thought it was a way better effort; the guys competed, and we gave ourselves a chance to win,” Babcock said. “You get to a shootout, it’s 50-50. For us, that’s a step in the right direction for sure. If we play like that, we’re going to win more hockey games than we lose.”

Brantford was off and running when Carson Andrew potted his third on the season, finishing off a centring pass from Kaden McGregor just 4:34 into Sunday’s affair. Ottawa roared back with two straight until the newly acquired Sam Roberts made his first major impression on the Brantford faithful.

Acquired via trade from the Oshawa Generals on Oct 8, the son of longtime NHLer Gary Roberts – a Bulldogs senior advisor – 17-year-old Sam – potted his first in black and gold with a breakaway tally midway through the second.

After Nic Whitehead put Ottawa ahead with a third-period power-play marker, Roberts again found the back of the net to tie the score. The strike came two minutes after towering 67’s forward David Bedkowski caught Brantford’s Jason Musa with a thunderous hit in the neutral zone. The play drew Bedkowski (6-foot-6, 220 lbs.) and Cullen McCrate (6-foot-2, 205 lbs.) into a fracas, resulting in Brantford receiving an extra penalty.

Already with an assist on Roberts’ first tally, forward Brayden Lappalainen was tabbed to serve the infraction. As he exited the ‘sin bin’, Lappalainen corralled a high outlet pass and started a three-way passing play that saw David Buchman find a streaking Roberts for his second of the contest.

“I think anyone who is in the box is looking for a breakaway after the penalty is over,” said Lappalainen, who was acquired from Flint in the off-season. I was lucky enough to get the puck there and got my head up and saw Buchman coming and (we) got it in the back of the net.”

“I was happy to see (Roberts) get rewarded tonight,” Babcock said. “I’m happy he gets a fresh start; he’s earned his opportunity. My job was easy; he was playing well, so I got to play him more. Hopefully that’s a confidence booster for him and a springboard for success.”

Babcock was also pleased with Lappalainen – a native of Tecumseh in his return to the lineup following a pair of scratches.

“I thought he handled coming back in the lineup really well. I don’t think he was opportunistic by any means; I think he worked and his success was a result of his work and being in the right spot,” Babcock said.

“He’s a fantastic kid, got tons of energy.”

Brantford found the high ground in overtime when Kohyn Eshkawkogan received a roughing minor. Brantford’s powerplay unit, operating at over 30 percent going into the contest, had its chances, blasting six pucks wide of the target during the ensuing two minutes. Filip Ekberg and Whitehead each scored in the shootout for Ottawa.

“We didn’t get the result we wanted fully, but we got a point,” Babcock noted. “That’s important in this league – you make sure you stack points every chance you get. For us, use the rest of the weekend, enjoy the time you get for Thanksgiving and get back to practice and let’s set the tone … It’s a building block … we’ve just got to make sure we build on it.”

“You’re not going to win every game; that’s just hockey, but sticking to the little details and doing the little things right, and the wins will come to us,” said Lappalainen, who is enjoying his time with the Dogs after spending most of last year in Tier II Junior A with Leamington.

“I’ve always wanted to be in Brantford,” he added. “Having a good year in Jr. A last year (14 goals, 21 assists in 49 games), getting to develop and make that jump to the OHL has been great. We’ve got such a tight group in the room; I’ve never been closer with any team, so that’s helped me become more comfortable and be able to play my game.”

The Bulldogs will return to action Friday vs. Barrie (1-6-1) at 7 p.m. and Sunday vs. Sault Ste. Marie (6-1-1) at 2 p.m. Both games are in Brantford.

Dog Bites

Fans at Sunday’s game received a unique gift. They each received a free pair of socks with the face of coach Michael Babock on them … Former Bulldog and Delhi product Marek Vanacker recently made his pro hockey debut. The Brantford 99ers graduate and first round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks has played three games with the American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs, the first coming vs. Milwaukee on Oct. 3 … Sunday’s visitors have been one of the stingiest teams in the province this season. The 67’s entered the contest having given up just four goals in their previous four outings and 20 in seven games, tied for third in the league … Despite two straight losses, Brantford was still the league’s top outfit as of Sunday morning (7-2-0-0). Brantford hadn’t lost two straight since May 2 and 4 in last season’s Eastern Conference Final vs. Barrie. The Bulldogs only lost back-to-back times on five occasions in 83 games last season … Defenceman Vladimir Dravecky, who spent last season with Brantford, signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the New York Islanders this week. The Czech product recorded nine goals and 19 assists in 58 games to go along with three assists in 11 playoff games with the Bulldogs, before being drafted in the 5th round (141st overall) in 2026 by the Islanders and being dealt to Guelph in the off-season… Swedish goalie Vilmer Salen Forsberg made 17 of 20 stops on Sunday for Brantford, while his counterpart Jaeden Nelson was 41 of 44, and two for three in the shootout.