The Bulldogs three-game Interior swing opened rather tentatively in Salmon Arm on Friday, with neither team hitting the net through the first 20 minutes of play. The Bulldogs had the better of the opportunities through the middle of the period, while the Silverbacks pushed back in the late stages of the period.
The second period started slow with lots of early whistles, but the play picked up in a hurry as the teams would make up for the lack of scoring in the first by combining to score four times. The Dogs took the lead just over six minutes into the second on a greasy one as Nick Kerr threw the puck out front from behind the goal line where it deflected in off a Salmon Arm defender. Assists went to Zach Funk and Dylan Haugen 6:10 into the second. Instead of being boosted by the goal, the Bulldogs appeared to sag as Salmon Arm immediately put the pressure on and tied the game as Brandon Mistal was set up in the slot by Alex Gillies where he went high blocker side on Brad Rebagliati. Steven Iacobellis also picked up an assist on the goal just 1:16 after the Dogs had taken the lead. The Silverbacks would take their first lead of the game just past the midway mark when Gillies walked out of the right corner out front and went high short-side on Rebagliati. Brandon Mistal picked up the only assist at 10:38 of the second. The score stayed that way until the final minute of the period when Mitch Cristanti sent the puck up the right wing for Matt Hansen, who drove down low and threw a perfect cross-crease feed onto the tape of a pinching Jared Wilson who one-timed it home from in tight to tie it at 2-2 at 19:22 of the second.
The only goal of the third came 3:16 in on a Salmon Arm power play, just seconds after the Dogs had a great chance on a 2 on 1 that Adam Clark kept out. Evan Anderson fed the puck from the right half-boards into the right corner for Alex Gillies, who then quickly centered to Shane Hanna who put the one-timer past Rebagliati. The Bulldogs pushed hard for the equalizer over the last four minutes but couldn’t find it, and couldn’t draw a penalty despite Matt Hansen being drilled from behind. Just a minute later it would be the Dogs that were penalized, making a comeback even tougher. The Dogs would get the goalie out for the extra attacker to make it a 5 on 5 situation where they showed a hunger and desperation that was missing for the most of the game. They had 2 or 3 great chances to tie it on scrambles and point shots in the dying moments but Clark kept them out as time expired.
Final shots were even at 30-30 with Adam Clark picking up the win while Jay Deo took the loss. The Dogs went 0 for 1 on the power play while the Silverbacks went 1 for 2.
