The Dogs began their road trip Friday night in Surrey where they faced the high flying Surrey Eagles. The first period was a sloppy one at times, but the Dogs scored the only goal during it when Johnny Rogic raced down the right wing on a breakaway. Eagle goalie Vinny Lessard would come up with the save, but Matt Hatch beat his man to the net and scored on the rebound before Lessard could recover.
With the score still 1-0 in the second and the Dogs down a man with Frank Slubowski given two minutes for delay of game, Kevin Ross found Trent Dorais for another breakaway down the right wing. Again Lessard made the save, but this time it was Warren Muir poking the rebound to Dorais, who spun and put a shot low through Lessard for a 2-0 Dogs lead. Warren Muir picked up the only assist at 11:33 of the second. The Dogs would then go on the power play minutes later where they made good as Matt Hatch put a pass from behind the net perfectly on the tape of Johnny Rogic as the former Eagle affiliate player one-timed it home for a 3-0 Dogs lead with 5:12 to play in the second. Warren Muir also picked up an assist on the scoring play. The third period would see no scoring but plenty of chances for the Eagles as they had several power play chances but they couldn?t beat Slubowski as he came up big to preserve the shut out.
Final shots favoured the Eagles 28-24 with Frank Slubowski getting his second shutout of the season while picking up first star honours. Vinny Lessard took the loss but played well when called upon and couldn?t be faulted on any of the goals. The Dogs were 1 for 5 while also scoring once shorthanded. The Eagles were 0 for 9.
The Bulldogs trip continued Saturday in Burnaby where they had a good start with Mitch MacMillan converting a 2 on 0 breakaway on a nice pass from his brother Mark just 2:23 into the game. It then was 2-0 Bulldogs five minutes later when David Dziurzynski scored on the power play on a nice set up by Josh Mitchell and Kevin Ross where Ross found Mitchell in the left circle, who then put a perfect pass on the tape of Dziurzynski driving the net off the back post for the one-timer into the open side 7:12 in. The Dogs continued to roll, as they built the lead to 3-0 early in the second when Warren Muir banged in a Johnny Rogic pass from in tight just 2:38 into the period on the power play. The Dogs might have been caught enjoying the lead a little too much as the game would change when the Express got their feet under them with a shorthanded goal just six minutes later to make it 3-1 as Dylan Herold got his own rebound after a breakaway save by Frank Slubowski that he managed to stuff home at the 8:45 mark of the second. Just two minutes later they really got into the game with a 5 on 3 goal as Matt Ridley scored from the right circle on a set up by Jimmy Geerin and John Pushkar as all of a sudden it was 3-2 with 11:22 gone in the second. The score would stay that way through the third period, with the Dogs coming up with a huge 5 on 3 penalty kill with 10 minutes to go in the game to preserve their lead as Frank Slubowski made several huge stops and the Dogs cleared loose pucks from around the net to hold the Express off. The Dogs finally iced it with Mitch MacMillan chipping the puck out of the zone before Trent Dorais won a battle to score into an empty net to make it 4-2 with 30 seconds to play. The lone assist on the goal went to Kevin Ross at the 19:29 mark of the third.
Shots favoured the Dogs 29-28 with Frank Slubowski again picking the win and first star honours. The Dogs were 2 for 7 on the power play, The Express were 1 for 6 while also scoring once shorthanded.
Sunday afternoon the Dogs took to the ice at the Langley Event Centre to finish their road trip against the Chiefs. The Dogs started this game on fire, taking a 1-0 lead 6:38 in on the power play when Mitch MacMillan scored short-side high to make it 1-0. David Dziurzynski picked up the only assist. It was then 2-0 Dogs again on the power play as Scott Lewan fired the Langley clearing attempt from his own net to Mitch MacMillan right on the Langley line where he let a cannon go from the same spot as the first goal, high on Matt Green to make it 2-0. Lewan picked up the only assist at the 11:15 mark of the first. That would do it for Green?s night as he was lifted in favour of Andrew Walsh. The Chiefs would get on the board on a controversial play in the second ? at least from the Dogs point of view, as with two of his teammates without sticks and the Dogs hemmed in their zone Kevin Ross froze the puck on the end boards. He did an incredible job of fighting off two and three Chiefs trying to pry the puck loose for an extended period of time. The anticipated whistle from Trevor Hanson didn?t come though, and the end result seconds later was a goal as Matt Cronin scored from the right circle. Travis Irving would pick up the only assist 3:36 into the second. The goal would further ignite the Chiefs, as just four minutes later they tied the game as Jordan Sims banged in a Brad Goss rebound at the side of the net to make it 2-2 7:20 into the period. The Chiefs would then go to the power play off the ensuing faceoff at centre, and just 1:17 later they took a 3-2 lead as they scored a beauty goal on a three way passing play where Brandon Thompson scored into the open net on the set up by Brad Goss and Colton Beck 8:37 into the second. The Chiefs kept rolling and took a 4-2 lead just two minutes after that as Jordan Sims scored his second of the game tipping a Colten Hayes shot past Lewan. Marcus Watson also picked up an assist on the play at 10:18 of the second. The Chiefs continued to control the play, but it would be the Dogs who stopped the bleeding as Mitch MacMillan put a perfect pass to David Dziurzynski in the slot where he went high blocker side on Walsh to make it 4-3 with 1:53 to play in the second. The Dogs did a great job in the third period to fight off fatigue to create chances, having many around the Chiefs net to tie it. Most notable would be a Johnny Rogic breakaway that was poked away by Walsh, right onto the tape of Warren Muir in the slot. Muir would be denied the game tying goal on a desperation save by Walsh, who got his glove up to keep it out. The Dogs would have a 5 on 3 for over a minute in the third period to try and tie the game, but the Chiefs killed it off easily as the Dogs power play couldn?t generate the 4-4 goal. The Chiefs would then ice it on a power play goal of their own late in the game when Colten Hayes put a perfect shot inside the far post from the right circle to make it 5-3 with 3:31 to play. Assists went to Dennis Robertson and Kevin Tuohy. The Dogs would pull out all the stops pulling their goalie for an extra attacker late, but the Chiefs sealed the deal into an empty net with Travis Irving scoring from Trevor Gerling and Colten Hayes.
Final shots favoured Langley 37-21 with Scott Lewan and Andrew Walsh being the goalies of record. The Bulldogs were 2 for 6 on the power play while the Chiefs were 2 for 5.
All in all, a good road trip for the Dogs as they come home with four out of a possible six points. After two straight three-in-three weekends, they have just two games on the schedule coming up this weekend as they?ll be in be in Victoria Friday before returning home Saturday to host Surrey.
