It didn’t take long for the fur to fly when the Dogs hosted the Langley Rivermen Saturday night on Teddy Bear Toss night as the line of Zack Funk, Dylan Haugen and Nick Kerr were flying off the opening puck drop, getting several chances around the net before Dylan Haugen roofed a Marlon Sabo rebound in tight just 40 seconds into the game to send the fur flying over the glass. Bo Pellah also picked up an assist on the play. Shortly afterwards the Dogs went to the power play where they made it a 2-0 game when Jared Wilson accepted a Ryan Lough pass at the blue line where he put a quick wrist shot through traffic high top corner glove side on James Barr for a 2-0 lead. Evan Tironese also picked up an assist on the play at the 2:19 mark of the first. The Rivermen would get on the board in short order to make it 2-1 on a bad turnover back of the net as Jacob Reichert picked off a pass by a Bulldog defender and threw the puck to a wide open Nathan Craft between the hash-marks who beat Jay Deo with a one-timer glove side, 5:52 into the first. It was a 2-2 game before the period was out as the Rivermen struck on a pretty passing play on the man advantage as Mario Puskarich scored on a cross-crease feed from James Robinson. Ben Butcher also assisted the play at 14:02 of the first.
The second period saw the Bulldogs take the lead back just short of the four minute mark as Manny Gialedakis carried the puck over the Langley line and was checked. Matt Hansen followed the play up and drove the net where he found the loose puck and slid it under Barr for his second goal in as many games. Tryg Strand also picked up an assist on the play at 3:50 of the second. The Dogs would have a glorious chance to build the lead on a 5 on 3 power play later in the period but they couldn’t connect, although they came close when Bo Pellah rang one off the post. Shortly after the power play they Rivermen came up ice and tied it as Jay Deo was caught behind the net playing the puck when it hit something and went to the slot and onto the stick of Trevor Cope who scored un-assisted at 14:41 to tie the game at 3-3. Less than two minutes later the Dogs took the lead right back though as Matt Hansen made a nifty play to dodge a check at the blue line before entering the zone and beating James Barr with a lightning quick release short-side to make it 4-3 Dogs at 16:18 from Marlon Sabo and Manny Gialedakis.
There would be no scoring in the third period, largely due to the Bulldogs penalty killers and Jay Deo as Langley was given five power play opportunities including a four minute power play, a long 5 on 3 power play and a penalty shot, but they weren’t able to find the net for the equalizer as the Dogs held on. The game had a fitting end from an officiating standpoint as while with a man in the penalty box and the goalie pulled, the puck was dropped with SIX Rivermen players on the ice. In the end the Dogs killed the last four seconds off for the 4-3 final.
Final shots favoured the Bulldogs 30-28 with Jay Deo picking up the win and James Barr taking the loss. The Dogs went 1 for 5 on the power play while the Rivermen went 1 for 10.
