HAMILTON, ON – Shane Joseph scored at the 5:03 mark of overtime to give the Cleveland Barons a 4-3 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs in Game #2 of the best-of-seven AHL North Division Semi-Finals Series.  The Bulldogs and Barons are now tied with one win apiece.

Chris Higgins led the Bulldogs offensively on Sunday by scoring the first two Hamilton goals.  Alexander Perezhogin also added a single goal for the Bulldogs.

The Barons had goals from four different players including from Tavis Hansen, Ryane Clowe, Doug Murray and Joseph.  Cleveland defenceman Christian Ehrhoff also contributed with three assists in the contest.

In goal, Bulldogs goaltender Jean-Francois Damphousse suffered his first loss of the playoffs, despite making 31 saves.  Cleveland goaltender Nolan Schaefer picked up the win by stopping 44 shots on the night.

The Bulldogs scored twice on five power play opportunities.  The Barons scored once on their only power play opportunity.

The Hamilton Bulldogs will face the Cleveland Barons in Game #3 of their AHL North Division Semi-Finals on Tuesday, April 27^th at the Gund Arena in Cleveland.  Bulldogs fans can listen to Derek Wills call all the action, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. on 820 CHAM, 610 CKTB and on-line at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com.

Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

No Scoring

2nd Period:

1. CLE – Tavis Hansen-1 (Patrick Rissmiller, Christian Ehrhoff) – 0:17
2. HAM – Chris Higgins-1 (Eero Somervuori, Ron Hainsey) – 6:45 (pp)
3. HAM – Chris Higgins-2 (Benoit Gratton, Ron Hainsey) – 8:43 (pp)
4. CLE – Ryane Clowe-2 (Tavis Hansen) – 14:45 (sh)

3rd Period:

5. CLE – Doug Murray-2 (Christian Ehrhoff, Shane Joseph) – 0:30 (pp)
6. HAM – Alexander Perezhogin-2 (Marcel Hossa, Rene Vydareny) – 11:47

Overtime:

7. CLE – Shane Joseph-3 (Christian Ehrhoff, Jon DiSalvatore) – 5:03

Goals:

Hamilton:            0-2-1-0--3

Cleveland:             0-2-1-1--4

Shots:

Hamilton:             14-19-13-1--47

Cleveland:            8-15-11-1--35

Goaltending:

Hamilton: Jean-Francois Damphousse (35 shots, 31 saves)

Cleveland:  Nolan Schaefer (47 shots, 44 saves)

Power play:

Hamilton:  2 for 5

Cleveland:   1 for 1

Three Stars:

1.  HAM – Chris Higgins

2.  CLE – Nolan Schaefer

3.  CLE – Shane Joseph

Attendance: 3,829