The Bulldogs and Clippers met again Wednesday night in Nanaimo for a winner-take-all Game 5. The Clippers came out and had the better of the chances early, but Jay Deo was solid early to keep it scoreless. The score remained 0-0 until the late stages of the first period when the Clippers drew first blood on their second power play chance of the game as a Brock Maschmeyer point shot came off the end boards after missing the net and back out front. Trevor Fitzgerald would find it and poke it through Jay Deo before Reid Sturos found it to just nudge it over the goal line to make it 1-0 Clippers at 17:32 of the first for a 1-0 lead after one.
The second was again played tight with no scoring throughout the frame – both teams had their chances with the Clippers having the better of them, as they were gifted a full two minute 5 on 3 power play when the Bulldogs picked up a four minute butt-ending penalty on the change after a minor penalty had already been given to the Dogs. The Dogs would come up with a huge kill thanks to several good saves by Jay Deo, a post, and a puck that was gloved in. The hundreds of Bulldog fans that made their way down to cheer the Dogs on responded with a standing ovation in the Frank Crane Arena to show their approval as the second period ended with the Clippers up 1-0.
The third period saw the Bulldogs battle hard to tie the game early on a great shift in the attacking zone that saw Matt Hansen battle the puck loose for Manny Gialedakis, who put the puck deep to Teal Burns and then drove the net where he took a return pass that he one-timed through the legs of Argue to make it 1-1 at 4:53 of the third. The score remained that way until the late stages of the game when the Dogs scored the game and series winner on the rush as Hunter Stewart took a pass from Evan Tironese and drove wide down the right wing before finding Ryan Lough in the slot walking in alone where he beat Argue glove side to make it 2-1 with 5:45 to play in the third as the Dogs fans in that end of the rink went crazy. The Bulldogs would defend the lead well over the final five minutes until the late stages when the Clippers had problems at their bench, resulting in a revolving door of players going on and off the bench back and forth and what appeared like several warnings to the Clipper Coaching Staff. They were still unable to figure out their change, and the Referee finally gave the Clippers a Bench Minor for Delay of Game, killing the Clippers comeback chances as the Dogs killed the clock with a defence-first penalty kill. It was quite the site as following the customary post-series handshake the Bulldog players lined up in the line in front of the sections of Bulldog fans at the Frank Crane Arena and did their customary Home Ice post-game salute on the road.
Final shots favoured the Clippers 30-21 with Jay Deo picking up the win and 1st star honours while Jayson Argue earned 2nd star with the loss. The Clippers went 1 for 6 on the power play while the Bulldogs went 0 for 4.
