The Alberni Valley Bulldogs dropped a 3-2 decision to the Langley Rivermen to open the Coastal Conference Semi-Final in front of 1309 fans at the Multiplex.
Langley opened the scoring at 9:17 of the 1st when Vitaly Levyy got his 1st of the playoffs. Levyy banked one off Braden Blace for a lucky bounce to open things up.
The Bulldogs respond just over 3:00 minutes when Matthew Maltais wired one past Ajeet Gundarah to pull the game even. The goal was Maltais 2nd of the post-season.
After a quick paced opening 20 minutes, the Rivermen seemed to frustrate the Bulldogs by clogging up the neutral zone and limiting their chances. The Rivermen held the Bulldogs to just 4 2nd period shots and Tyler Schleppe got the only goal of the frame at 12:54 of the period for a 2-1 Langley lead after 40 minutes.
In the 3rd frame Riley Wallack chipped one past Hobie Hedquist the give Langley a 3-1 lead, however the Bulldogs responded quickly as Brandon Buhr sniped home his 6th of the playoffs to pull the Bulldogs to within a goal down 3-2.
Try as they might, the Bulldogs couldn’t force OT despite some extended zone time in the Langley end as the game wore down.
Langley finished the night 1 for 2 with the man-advantage, while the Bulldogs didn’t earn any power play chances of their own, much to the chagrin of the Bulldogs faithful who were LOUD and let the officiating crew know how they felt by chanting in unison.
Gundarah earned the win as he stopped 21 of 23 shots, while Hobie Hedquist suffered his 1st loss of the playoffs stopping 21 of 24.
Game 2 goes tomorrow night at the Dawg Pound. Ticket sales were strong today and we’re expecting another great crowd.
