The Burlington Cougars tried to dig themselves out of a two-goal hole, but the Hamilton Red Wings held on for a 5-4 victory.

Hamilton made the score 5-3 on a goal by Joel Knight at 8:34 in the third period, and Burlington got as close as 5-4 when Ryan Wilkinson scored 18:48 into the third period.

Josh LaFrance had a great game for the Red Wings, netting two goals. LaFrance scored at 10:08 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Hamilton and again while 11:08 into the second to make the score 4-2 Hamilton.

The Cougars were unable to stop Hamilton from sending pucks towards the net, and the Red Wings eventually piled up 36 shots on goal. Hamilton found itself short handed often, totaling 26 penalty minutes and allowing eight power plays.

Hamilton also got a goal from Cole Poliziani as well. Other players who recorded assists for Hamilton were Luke Sinclair, Mitch Reid, Alex Zaccaria, and Nathan Gomes, who contributed one a piece and Justin Whitwell and Chance MacDonald, who each chipped in two.

Burlington's offense rang up 37 shots on the Red Wings' net.

The Cougars were led by Tyler Lepore, who had one goal and one assist. Lepore scored 19:34 into the second period to make the score 4-3 Hamilton. Steven Mueller picked up the assist. Burlington also got points from Riley Dunda, who also registered one goal and one assist. Paolo DeSousa also scored for Burlington. More assists for Burlington came via Carl Greco, who had one and Adam Burnett, who had two.

Corey Foster rejected 33 shots on goal for Hamilton. The Red Wings registered zero goals on two power play opportunities. Hamilton ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Niko Porikos was ejected from the game. Morton Josh recorded 31 saves for Burlington. The Cougars incurred 10 minutes in penalty time with five minors.