The Alberni Valley Bulldogs ran their home-ice winning streak to 7 straight last night with a convincing 5-1 win over the visiting Powell River Kings in front of 1424 fans at the Multiplex.
After a scoreless opening frame, the Bulldogs built a 2-1 lead in the 2nd period thanks to Ethan Bono’s 15th of the season and Owen Desilets 1st as a Bulldog. Desilets picked up steam in the neutral zone and walked in on a 2-on-1 before beating Kyle Metson and popping the water bottle off the top of the net for good measure.
In the 3rd period, the Bulldogs blew the game wide open with 3 goals. Cam VanSickle got his 15th on the power play at 1:38 of the 3rd and Matt Kursonis made it 4-1 just 1:12 later as he scored his 7th of the season. Nicholas Beneteau, riding a league-leading 11 game point streak, saved the streak with just 34 seconds left as he put home a rebound off a Dakota MacIntosh shot for his 14th of the year. For MacIntosh, he managed 2 assists to extend his point streak, but despite some good looks, he saw his 8 game goal scoring streak come to an end.
For the 2nd straight game, Hobie Hedquist was named the games first star. Hedquist was simply sensational last night against the Kings as he stopped 39 of 40 shots. Adding in Friday’s performance in Nanaimo and Hedquist has stopped 69 of the 71 shots sent his way, good for a .971 save percentage. Hedquist made an eye-popping save in the 3rd period as he got the paddle of his stick on rebound chance before scrambling to retrieve the puck off the goal line and freeze the puck for a whistle.
The atmosphere was electric as the 1424 fans rose to their feet for each opening puck drop of the night. The 1424 fans was the 2nd largest crowd at the Multiplex this season and Monday afternoon’s family day matinee against the Nanaimo Clippers is expected to be just as large.
The Bulldogs were 1 for 2 on the power play and 2 for 3 on the penalty kill.
Bulldog Bites:
- Hobie Hedquist earned his 20th win of the season last night. Hedquist becomes the 1st Bulldogs goalie since Frank Slubowski to win 20 games in back-to-back seasons. Hedquist now has 48 wins in his Bulldogs career, just 5 behind Slubowski’s 53 career wins for the all-time franchise record.
- Nicholas Beneteau now has 24 points in his 13 game point streak. His assist streak came to an end at 12 games which matched Penticton’s Josh Nadeau for the league lead this season. Beneteau did have 19 assists during the streak, one more than Nadeau.
- The Bulldogs have won 7 straight at the Multiplex. The streak is 2nd to the Vees current 19 game home ice winning streak.
