(photo: Victoria Grizzlies)
The Alberni Valley Bulldogs earned a hard fought, gritty road win on Friday night as they topped the Victoria Grizzlies 3-2 at the Q Centre in Colwood.
Matthew Maltais scored twice, his 3rd and 4th goals of the season. Maltais now has 10 points in his first 12 games as a Bulldogs. Brandon Buhr had his 16th, the game winner in the 2nd period.
Highly touted rookie Matthew Wood had his talents on full display tonight as he scored a highlight reel goal in the first, and scored another beauty in the 2nd period to pull the Grizzlies to within a goal at 3-2. The Grizzlies couldn’t get any closer.
The Bulldogs did a masterful job of protecting the lead in the 3rd, outshooting the Grizzlies 12-10 in the scoreless frame to close out the win.
Special teams were expected to be a factor and the Bulldogs penalty kill might have been the 1st star of the game. The unit was a perfect 5 for 5 including killing a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage in the 2nd period with the game tied 1-1.
Hobie Hedquist wasn’t a star in the building surprisingly, but he did get in the win column once again as he stopped 31 of 33 Grizzlies shots. Cole Schweius was good in goal for the Grizzlies as well as he stopped 29 of 32 to earn 3rd star honours before a sparse crowd of 1200 plus.
The win improved the Bulldogs record to 26-12-3-1 and they remain in 2nd place in the Coastal Conference. Tomorrow’s opponent, the Chilliwack Chiefs defeated Monday’s opponent, the Nanaimo Clippers 5-0. The Clippers and Chiefs remain 3rd and 4th respectively after Friday’s action. Langley defeated Powell River in OT, so the Bulldogs didn’t make up any ground on the Rivermen.
