The Alberni Valley Bulldogs defeated the Victoria Grizzlies 5-2 on Friday night at the Dawg Pound in front of 1366 fans for their 5th straight victory.
Hayden Stavroff, the club’s leading scorer got the night rolling with his 11th of the season. Stavroff sits just one goal behind Caden Cranston of the Surrey Eagles for the league lead.
Fischer O’Brien (6th), Jack Ziliotto (1st) scored in the 2nd for the Bulldogs who took a 3-1 lead to the locker room after 40 minutes. It was a big goal for Ziliotto as he had his first of the season wiped off the board last weekend against Chilliwack after a goaltender interference penalty was called.
In the 3rd, Cole Bishop got his 5th of the season mid-way through the final frame, and hit the back of the empty net at 18:14 for his 2nd of the night and 6th of the season.
After a rare off game on Wednesday where he allowed 5 goals, Bulldogs goaltender Callum Tung was back to his old tricks as he stopped 36 of 38 Grizzlies shots for his 8th win of the year. Prior to the game, Tung was named the Bulldogs October player of the month, after the game he was named the 1st Star for the 2nd straight Friday. Tung is now 8-3-0-0 on the year with a 2.20 GAA and a .934 save %.
The win for the Bulldogs was a big one, emotionally if nothing else this early in the season. The Grizzlies had handed the Bulldogs their only 2 home losses of the season on consecutive trips here, the club wanted to respond and did so on Friday. The Grizzlies and Bulldogs are now tied for 2nd in the Coastal Conference standings with identical 11-4-0-0 records.
The Bulldogs will now face the Powell River Kings for a rare Sunday afternoon game. The Kings are just 4-8-1-0 this year, but are coming off an 8-0 win over Trail last night. Powell River is in Victoria to take on the Grizzlies tonight before making their way to Port Alberni on Sunday.
It will be a great afternoon of family fun! The Box Office will open at the Multiplex 10:00 am on Sunday morning or you can skip the trip and purchase tickets online by CLICKING HERE
