Early goals in the first and second period kickstarted the Hamilton Bulldogs, who defeated the Manitoba Moose 4-3 at MTS Centre Friday night.

Game Notes: Manitoba | Hamilton

Hamilton dented the scoreboard early on a goal by Corey Locke. Locke picked up a loose puck off to the side of Alex Auld and backhanded it by the Moose netminder.

The Moose had several chances to tie the game up, including shots in-close by Heerema and Goren that were denied by Yann Danis.

Corey Locke made a nice move around a Moose defender before feeding it over to Chris Higgins, Higgins tapped the puck in past Auld to make it 2-0 despite the Moose having a 6-3 edge in shots.

Manitoba finally solved Danis late in the period. DiPenta fired the puck from the point that went through several legs and found its way into the back of the net.

After one period, the Moose were up 10-6 in shots but trailing the Bulldogs 2-1.

The second period started much the same way as the first, with Hamilton scoring 55 seconds in.

Benjamin Carpentier fired a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle past Auld to make it a 3-1 game.

Hamilton increased their lead to 4-1 on a goal by Steve Ott. Gavin Morgan drove to the net and was stopped by Auld but Ott was right there to put the rebound in.

In the latter half of the middle frame, the Moose scored a shorthanded goal. Josh Green blocked a shot and then broke out of the zone on a two-on-one with Lee Goren. The two played a give-and-go with Green eventually feeding Goren.

After two periods, Hamilton had a 4-2 advantage with shots even 20-20.

Early in the third, Steve Ott had a breakaway but had the puck knocked away from him by a diving Peter Sarno. Referee Dean Morton awarded a penalty shot on the play.

Ott deked right on the penalty shot but Auld stayed with him, making the stop.

Ott factored into the play again near the midway point of the third when his goaltender interference negated a potential goal by Tomas Plekanec.

The Moose made things interesting with 6:43 to play in the third. Kevin Bieksa, Peter Sarno and Jason King were all buzzing around Yann Danis and the Hamilton goal. Eventually, Sarno was able to corral the puck at the top of the crease and backhand it in to bring the Moose to within a goal at 4-3.

With Corey Locke in the box with just over three minutes to play, the Moose came close to tying it up. There were several chances in-close but Danis kept the puck out.

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NOTES: Goren's shorthanded goal was Manitoba's first of the season...