The Bulldogs opened up their weekend Friday night when they visited the Grizzlies in Victoria for the first of two games ahead of the Christmas Break. The Dogs had a good start to the game, taking an early 4-0 lead in shots on goal but it would be the Grizzlies finding the board on their first shot of the game as David Morley walked out from behind the net and tucked one through the legs of Frank Slubowski 4:11 into the first, the exact second a Bulldog power play had elapsed. Joel Lowry and Sean Robertson picked up the assists. The Dogs again came out with jump in the second and they were rewarded for it as just over a minute into the period Colton Sobchak got the puck deep for Casey Bailey who worked the down-low 2 on 1 to perfection finding Josh Mitchell with the cross-crease feed that he one-timed past Matt Ginn to tie the game at 1-1 just 1:09 into the second. The Dogs continued to play well as they hemmed the Grizzlies in their end for an extended period but were unable to find the net or draw a penalty. The Grizzlies would break out of their zone and immediately get the puck to the Dogs net, resulting in an immediate penalty call. That would turn into a 2-1 lead shortly afterwards as Kyle Aschim drove the net and tipped home a pass through the legs of Slubowski that was intended for Joel Lowry off the stick of David Morley 8:57 into the second. Another power play ended up in the back of the Bulldogs net as Wade Murphy inadvertently blocked a shot from the point but it certainly worked out as he picked up the loose puck off the broken play and fired one through Slubowski to make it 3-1 13:00 into the second from Evan Richardson and Sean Robertson. The Dogs ended up in the penalty box again just two minutes later and managed to kill it off but shortly afterwards it was 4-1 Grizzlies as Gavin Hohl tipped in a Taylor Love shot from the blue line that was chest high out of mid air that was close to high stick but ruled a good goal. Michael Colantone also picked up an assist with 2:15 to play in the second. Kiefer Giroux would get the nod to start the third period and he came under fire early as the Grizzlies made it 5-1 just 23 seconds into the frame as former Bulldog Pearce Eviston converted a cross-crease pass from David Morley with Taylor Love also drawing an assist. The Dogs made it 5-2 four minutes later on a great set up by Connor Varley as he carried the puck over the line and down the right wing before fanning on a shot but getting the puck to Josh Mitchell who in turn found Casey Bailey all alone in front where he one-timed the pass into the wide open net 4:14 into the third. The score stayed that way all the way until the late minutes of the game as the Dogs really came alive when Brandon Adams raced to the net to tip home a beautiful backdoor pass by Kenney Morrison to make it 5-3 with 2:30 to play with Josh Mitchell also drawing an assist on the goal. Just 19 seconds later Colton Sobchak raced in on the breakaway off a loose puck that he put high short side on Ginn to make it 5-4 from Josh Mitchell and Casey Bailey but that would be as close as the Dogs would get as they couldn?t find the equalizer as the Grizzlies held on.
Shots favoured the Dogs 36-29 with Frank Slubowski taking the loss giving up 4 goals on 18 shots through two periods of work before giving way to Kiefer Giroux who was beaten once on 11 shots in the third period. The Dogs went 0 for 3 on the power play while the Grizzlies went 2 for 7.
The final game for the Dogs before the Christmas Break was Saturday night in Duncan. The Dogs came out flying in this one, getting lots of pucks on net and having a noticeable jump in their step. The Dogs made it 1-0 just 3:45 into the game on a faceoff win in the Cowichan end by Konrad Litke as Tyler Berkholtz found the puck and put a hard shot on net that resulted in a rebound on the stick of Trent Dorais in the slot that he made no mistake on snapping it past Chase Martin. The Dogs built the lead to 2-0 in the final minute of the period with the same line doing the damage as Tyler Berkholtz put a perfect cross-ice pass from the half boards to Kyle Weber at the left point. Weber would waste no time, getting a quick wrist shot at the net that was redirected by Konrad Litke past Chase Martin to make it 2-0 at 19:03 of the first. The Bulldogs started the second the way the ended the first, with good energy and pucks on net. They would be rewarded with a power play opportunity early in the period and they made quick work of it as Justin Morello won the draw back to Connor Varley at the left point, where he made a good play to keep the puck in the zone to avoid the pressure. He then found Brandon Adams on the left wing where he walked into the circle and ripped a shot short-side past Martin to make it 3-0 Bulldogs just 2:11 into the second. The Dogs kept the pressure up, winning battle after battle in the Capitals zone and winning races to loose pucks. They would make it 4-0 after a long shift of containment in the zone as Sam Mitchell picked the puck up behind the net and beat Martin with a wrap around far side. Liam Darragh and Sawyer Mick picked up the assists 6:02 into the second. The Capitals would finally get going when they got on the board 53 seconds later on a faceoff win in the Dogs end as Chase Kaiser blew a slap shot past the blocker of Slubowski to make it 4-1. Alex Halloran and Nicholas Wong picked up the assists 6:55 into the second. Seven minutes later it was a two goal game again as Tyler Matheson got credit for an end board bounce goal as the initial shot missed the net but appeared to hit Frank Slubowski on the carom to just sneak over the line to make it 4-2. Nicholas Wong got the only assist 13:18 into the second. The Caps would have the momentum for a spell after that but the Dogs held on until the final minute of the period when they restored the three goal lead when Ryan Renz put a shot on net from the left point that was stopped by Chase Martin but there was a big rebound that was found by Casey Bailey who was rewarded for driving the net as he potted the loose puck to make it 5-2 with 54 seconds left in the second period with Ryan Renz picking up the only assist. The Capitals would find the only goal of the third period when a long bank pass was found by Stephen Saretsky behind the Bulldogs defence as he raced in on the breakaway where he beat Slubowski glove side to make it a 5-3 game with 10:44 gone in the third with assists going to Darrin Robak and Nicholas Wong. The Capitals would have a glorious chance to make it a one-goal game with a late power play opportunity but Frank Slubowski made a huge save on the only chance the Dogs gave up as he robbed Clayton Chessa on a backdoor one-timer attempt to preserve the two goal lead. Neither team would find the net over the final two minutes as the Dogs made the lead stand to head into the Christmas Break on a winning note.
Final shots favoured the Capitals 36-32 with Frank Slubowski picking up the win and Chase Martin taking the loss. The Dogs went 1 for 1 on the power play while the Capitals went 0 for 2.
The Dogs head home for the Holidays before returning to action with a big three game road trip that kicks off Tuesday December 28th in Coquitlam. The Dogs face the Eagles in Surrey for the first time this season the next night, before finishing the trip in Langley on December 30th. Happy Holidays!
