The Alberni Valley Bulldogs Scored Four Straight Third-Period Goals in Heart-Stopping Fashion to Knock Off the High-Flying Salmon Arm Silverbacks 5-3 at the Dog Pound on Saturday Night.
This Is the First Time This Season That Tbe Bulldogs Have Recorded Two Wins in a Row. They Beat the Nanaimo Clippers in Double Overtime Thursday Night at the Pound.
The Silverbacks Were Coming in After a 6-5 Win Over Cowichan Valley Capitals the Previous Night — a Game That Bulldogs' Coaches Alan Kerr and Bryant Perrier Watched Closely and Took Notes.
The Bulldogs Scored First Blood After the Silverbacks Got Into Penalty Trouble Early in the First Period. Playing at the Tail End of a 5-On-3, Marcello Ranallo Put the Dogs Ahead 1-0 With An Unassisted Marker at 3:54. With the Visitors Still Shorthanded, Sawyer Eichel Nearly Made It 2-0.
But Evan Pighin, With His First of Three on the Night, Put the Silverbacks on the Board With a Shorthanded Goal With Just Over a Minute Left in the Period. the High-Scoring Forward Intercepted An Outlet Pass on the Fly and Ripped a Long Wrist-Shot Just as He Cleared the Blueline.
Pighin Made It 2-1 With An Even-Strength Goal Early in the Second, as the Visitors Went to a 1-2-2 Style and Took Away the Long Pass. Bulldogs Goalie Harrison May Made Some Sharp Saves to Keep the Game for Getting Out of Hand, but Pighin Came Back With a Power-Play Marker Before the Period Was Out, Picking Up a Derek Lee Pass After Hank Van Boxmeer's Point Shot Rattled Off the Cross-Bar.
But It Was All Bulldogs in the Third, as Newly-Minted Captain Daniel Moriarty and Alternate Lee Patzer Made the Coaches Look Like Geniuses. the Rally Began With a 3-On-2 Led by Matt Frydrysek, Which Drew Pighin Into a Hooking Penalty. Twenty Seconds Later, Silverback Damon Kipp Was Called for Holding, and on the Resulting 5-On-3, Moriarty Wrested One From the Left Face-Off Circle. the Assists Went to Patzer and Even Michalchuk, but It Took Some Stellar Point Work From Ranallo and Josh Pineiro.
Patzer Tied It Up With a Short-Handed Marker at the Nine-Minute Mark, After Snagging An Errant Pass at Centre Ice, and Suddenly, It's a Whole New Hockey Game. a Minute and a Half Later, the Captain Converted a Long Shane Malone Point-Shot, to Lift the Roof on the Dog Pound.
Frydrysek Put the Icing on the Cake, Redeeming Himself for Taking An Untimely Interference Penalty Shortly After Moriarty Tied It Up. the Rookie Exploded From the Penalty Box, Intercepted a Pass And, Using His Captain as a Decoy, Raced in on the Left Wing and Buried the Heart-Breaker. May Closed the Door the Rest of the Way, Which Included Two Minutes of 6-On-5, When the Silverbacks Pulled Their Goalie.
Following the Game, Coach Kerr Said His Players Stepped Up the Pace in the Third, to Take Advantage of a Tired Team.
“We Got Off Our Game a Little Bit, and We Took a Few Bad Penalties,” Kerr Said. “We Knew That Salmon Arm Had Played Three Games in Three Nights. We Thought, if We Up-Tempo-Ed Them, We Could Create Some Opportunities for Ourselves.”
Kerr Said That, 15 Games In, He and Assistant Coach Perrier Felt a Change in Leadership Was Needed.
“We Looked at Two Guys (Patzer and Moriarty) We Felt Should Be in a Higher Position, as Far as Leading the Team,” He Said. “Tonight, We Looked Really Smart. but Those Guys Worked Hard — They've Been Doing It for 17 Games.”
Kerr Said the Silverbacks Switch in Game Plan in the Second Period Made for Some Adjustments Between the Second and Third Period.
“It's (1-2-2) Hard to Play Against, if It's Executed Properly. and as You Saw in the Third Period, We Did the Exact Same Thing to Them,” He Said.
“If We Couldn't Get Aggressive Forecheck Pressure on Their Defence, We Went Into 1-2-2 as Well. It's Systems Versus Systems.” Catching a Preview of the Salmon Arm Offence in Cowichan Was Well Worth the Travel Time, He Added.
Notes: Three Stars of the Game Were Daniel Moriarty, Evan Pighin, and Lee Patzer.
