The Dogs weekend started with a bang Friday night when the Langley Chiefs visited the Pound, with two quick Langley penalties seeing the Dogs going to a 5 on 3 power play when the game was just over a minute old. Moments later, they would go up 1-0 with Mitch MacMillan banging in a rebound after Andrew Walsh made the first save. Nick Cecere got the only assist on the scoring play 1:47 into the game.
The Dogs continued to push the pace and had numerous chances to go up by two, but it would be the Chiefs who evened the game in the dying seconds of the period with Brandon Thompson sneaking in alone and beating Frank Slubowski with a backhand from the top of the crease with just 24 seconds left in the first. Josh Myers picked up the only assist on the play. The only goal of the second came just short of six minutes into the period as Josh Mitchell walked over the Langley line up the right wing and blew a slap shot low, far side past Walsh for a 2-1 Dogs lead after 40. Kevin Ross picked up the only assist on the play. Action would be fairly tight checking for the remainder of the game, save for the late minutes of the third when the Dogs forced a turnover and raced in on a 2 on 1 rush with Mitch MacMillan carrying the puck down the right wing and keeping and shooting high short side for a beautiful goal to give the Dogs a two goal cushion with just 2:37 to play. No assists were given on the goal. That would be all the insurance the Dogs needed as they skated to the 3-1 win.
Final shots favoured the Chiefs 34-31, with Frank Slubowski picking up the win and first star honours in net. The Dogs won the special teams battle going 1 for 6 on the man advantage while killing off all four of Langley?s power plays.
Saturday night saw the Surrey Eagles flying into the pound, and were they ever flying early taking a 2-0 lead on goals from Chris Santiago and Michael Krgovich before the first period was even 10 minutes old. The Dogs would settle down to stop the bleeding, although they couldn?t find the net themselves until just short of 39 minutes into the game when Mark MacMillan picked off an errant pass up the middle in the Langley zone, walked down the left wing and threw a high shot on goal that Matt Hatch got a stick blade on to tip past Eagle goaltender Vinny Lessard to make it a 2-1 game with 1:09 left in the second. Mark MacMillan got the only assist on the goal, the first of Hatch?s BCHL career. The Eagles would re-establish their two goal lead just over a minute into the third when Richard Vanderhoek found Chris Santiago with a cross ice pass on a 2 on 1 rush that he blew off the far post and in on Frank Slubowski to make it 3-1 Surrey. It would have been easy for the Dogs to roll over at this point, but they were undaunted and just kept working. Just mere seconds after the Dogs failed to capitalize on a power play chance, David Dziurzynski was the first man in on the loose puck on the fore-check. He would then find a wide open Mitch MacMillan on the doorstep, who banged his own rebound home for a 3-2 game with 9:12 gone in the third. The Dogs pushed hard for the equalizer but rattled one off the post to keep it 3-2 as the game entered the final minute. The Dogs then called time out and once they had possession in the Surrey end pulled Frank Slubowski for the extra attacker. With time ticking down to the final 10 seconds a battle was won on the end boards in the Eagle zone by David Dziurzynski who found Matt Hatch with a quick 10 foot pass that he rifled short-side past Lessard with 6.9 seconds left raising the roof on the Pound and forcing overtime as the Bulldog faithful rose to their feet with a standing ovation to salute the players efforts. In the sudden death frame it would be former Eagle affiliate Johnny Rogic picking up a pass from Zack Mazo at centre and splitting the Eagles D to skate in alone where he went to the backhand and tucked it past Lessard for his second career OT winner over the Eagles and the 4-3 Dogs win setting off pure bedlam in the Dog Pound. The goal was at 1:04 of overtime, and no assists were given on the play.
Final shots favoured the Dogs 41-13 ? that?s the most shots the Dogs have taken and also the least they have allowed in a game so far this season. Frank Slubowski again picked up the win in net. The Dogs were 0 for 7 on the power play while the Eagles were 0 for 3.
With the win, the Dogs have won four in a row as they run their record to 4 and 1. They are next in action this coming weekend as their six game home stand concludes with the Powell River Kings at the Pound Friday and the Nanaimo Clippers visiting Saturday.
