After five straight games on the road the Bulldogs begin a stretch of five of their next six on home ice on Tuesday night as they host the Cowichan Valley Capitals on $7.00 a ticket night at the Dog Pound. Friday it’s over the hump to Nanaimo to visit the Clippers, before Victoria visits the Dog Pound Saturday night to end the weekend. The Dogs enter play Tuesday night 8th place in the Coastal Conference with a record of 16-26-2 and 1 for 35 points, one back of the 7th placed Rivermen with the Dogs having a game in hand. The Dogs are 2 points back of the Grizzlies for the sixth spot with four games in hand, and 23 back of Express for 4th place and a playoff position, with the Dogs having two games in hand.
The Caps enter play Tuesday in 3rd place with a record of 27-13-1 and 6 for 61 points, two back of the Eagles for second and seven back of the Conference leading Kings with the Capitals having two games in hand. They were last in action Saturday night at home in a wild affair, losing 6-5 to the Express in overtime. The ice wasn’t even dry before the Capitals drew first blood on a Brayden Sherbinin marker an unreal nine seconds into the game but the Express erased that with a pair on the power play just seconds apart seven minutes into the period to lead 2-1 after one. Yet another power play goal from Coquitlam gave them a 3-1 lead in the late stages of the second, but the Capitals would answer with a power play goal of their own from Steen Cooper to make it a one goal game. Just seconds later it was the Capitals turn to score in bunches as Brandon Mistal found the net again to tie it at 3-3 heading into period three. The Caps scored their second power play goal of the contest when Devin Gannon gave them a 4-3 lead four minutes in, but the Express tied it back up with their fourth man advantage goal four minutes later. Exactly a minute later it was 5-4 Caps on a Richard Vandoerhoek goal with ten and a half to play, a lead that stood up until the final minute when the Express got the equalizer to send the game to sudden death. The Express sealed the deal just over a minute into overtime for the 6-5 final.
The Capitals outshot the Express 53-43 with Brady Rouleau getting tagged with the loss in the Caps net. Special teams accounted for six of the nine goals in the game as the Caps went 2 for 3 while Coquitlam went a crazy 4 for 6 on the man advantage.
It’s the fifth meeting between the teams but just the second at the Dog Pound. After the Dogs picked up two wins a tie in the first three meetings the Capitals have won the last two, most recently 5-2 in Duncan a day after the Trade Deadline.
Catch the pregame show tonight from the Dog Pound at 6:45 with the play-by-play to follow at 7:00pm on 93.3 The Peak FM, our website at www.933thepeak.com, and watch the Pay Per View Broadcast by visiting the BCHL’s Live Portal HERE
The Clippers enter play this week in 5th place in the Coast with a record of 21-17-0-8 for 50 points, eight back of the Coquitlam Express and the final playoff spot with the Clippers holding a game in hand.. The Shipmen have lost three in a row on the heels of a four game winning streak, last seeing action Saturday at home when they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Surrey Eagles. Before the Clippers host the Dogs on Friday, they will see action Wednesday night as they again host Surrey.
It’s the six meeting between the rivals this season with the Clippers holding a 3-2 edge. Incredibly enough it’s the first meeting between the teams since the Dogs “Parents Weekend” to end November, as the teams defended their own ice in splitting a weekend home and home.
Catch the pregame show Friday night from the Frank Crane Arena at 6:45 with the puck dropping at 7:00. Get all the action on 93.3 The Peak FM or through the Pay-Per-View Broadcast on the BCHL website through the Live Portal
Victoria enters play this week in 6th place in the Conference with a record of 18-30-1-0 for 37 points, a single point up on the Dogs. They were last in action Saturday night at home when they lost 2-1 to Powell River. The Grizzlies have lost two in a row, and are winless in thirteen games with twelve losses and a tie. Before visiting the Dogs on Saturday the Grizzlies are in Coquitlam facing the Express on Friday night.
Saturday’s game is the sixth head to head meeting between the clubs with the Bulldogs winning the last two to lead the season series 3-2. The most recent meeting favoured the Dogs with 6-3 score at the Pound on January 13th.
Catch the pregame show Saturday night from the Dog Pound at 6:45 with the play-by-play to follow at 7:00pm on 93.3 The Peak FM, our website at www.933thepeak.com, and watch the Pay Per View Broadcast by visiting the BCHL’s Live Portal HERE
