Considering the team were clearly sellers at the OHL Trade Deadline, the Sudbury Wolves generally played some very competitive hockey over the course of the final three months of the 2025-2026 regular season.
And but for a pair of relatively inconsequential goals in the final 3:17 of game one of their first round matchup against the Brantford Bulldogs, the same could be said of this series opener.
A scoreless affair through virtually the 15 minutes of play, the contest veered quickly in the direction of the heavy favourites over the ensuing ten minutes of play scanning two different periods.
Cooper Dennis broke the ice for Brantford at the 14:55 mark, Luca Testa doubled the advantage some four minutes later and by the time that Caleb Malhotra made it 3-0 (3:58 - 2nd period), it was pretty clear why the Bulldogs finished 50 points ahead of the Wolves and are considered by many as the team most likely to emerge from the Eastern Conference playoffs this year.
The visitors, however, found a way to right the ship, at least for the next 20 minutes or so, clawing their way back. Daniel Berehowsky got Sudbury on the board midway through period two and when Hudson Chitaroni scored at 8:01 of the third, there was at least some reason to believe that a collosal game one upset might be in the making.
Unfortunately, that tally only served to remind a very deep and talented Bulldogs team that they will need to match the effort of the upstart Wolves in order to allow their elite level skill to prevail - a task that they performed in flawless manner, closing out the game with three unanswered goals.
Adam Benak converted on a penalty shot (11:18) and Caleb Malhotra (16:43) and Luca Testa (17:36) closed things off with their second markers of the night as Brantford pulled away for a 6-2 win.
While Sudbury narrowed the gap briefly in shots on goal late in the second and early in the third, a final margin of 43-24 screams volumes about just how quickly a Bulldogs team loaded with no less than 11 NHL drafted players can take over control of a game.
Game two in this series is set to take place at the TD Civic Centre in Brantford on Sunday at 4:00 p.m., with the scene shifting to Sudbury for games three and four next Tuesday (March 31st) and Thursday (April 2nd) respectively.
