The Alberni Valley Bulldogs defeated the Coquitlam Express 5-4 in OT on Friday night to take a 1-0 series lead in the best of 7 Coastal Conference Quarterfinal presented by the Port Alberni Port Authority. Game 2 is set for 7pm tonight at the Dawg Pound.
Simply put, it was a strange night at the Multiplex. It almost felt as if the crowd was as nervous as some of the players. The typically boisterous crowd seemed more subdued than usual. It wasn’t until the 3rd period and the OT winner was tipped home that the crowd seemed to really let loose.
Coquitlam took a 2-1 lead to the 3rd period where it appeared the Bulldogs turned the game around in their favour.
The Bulldogs scored twice in the first 7:09 of the 3rd to take their first lead of the night, only to see Coquitlam respond with a power play goal at 16:21 to pull even at 3-3. Even a Matt Kursonis goal just 1:08 later wasn’t enough the put the Express away as Jackson Krill found the back of the net with the extra attacker out. Krill’s seeing eye shot alluded the screen in front of Callum Tung and beat him clean to tie the game at 4-4 with just 33 seconds left to send Game 1 to OT.
In the extra session the Bulldogs outshot the Express 6-5 and broke through when Grayson Badger tipped home a Hayden Stavroff shot at 15:39 of the 1st overtime session.
For Badger, the goal was his 2nd of the night as he opened the Bulldogs scoring back in the first period. Also scoring in the win were Zeke Nicholson & Lucas Buzziol. Hayden Stavroff and Braxton Buckberger each chipped in with a pair of assists. For Coquitlam, Drew Garzone scored twice, while Luke Vardy added the other.
Adam Manji allowed 5 goals on 39 shots in Game 1, while Callum Tung allowed 4 on 35 Express shots.
The Express were 1 for 4 with the man advantage, while the Bulldogs were 0 for 3.
The Bulldogs have now won 8 straight at the Dawg Pound, carrying over from the regular season. The Bulldogs have also won 9 straight Conference Quarterfinal matchups. Their last loss in the opening round came all the way back on March 5th, 2020 when they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Nanaimo Clippers.
The crowd was just 1424, making the smallest crowd for a playoff game since the spring of 2022. Entering the game, the Bulldogs had sold out 5 consecutive playoff games entering Game 1.
It was far from a perfect effort for the Bulldogs, but they’re right where they want to be heading into Game 2, up 1-0 in the series. After tonight, the club will travel to Coquitlam on Monday in advance of Game 3 & 4 which are set for Tuesday and Wednesday.
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