The Dogs open up the 2012 portion of their schedule with three games this week. Action begins on Wednesday as they head to the Lower Mainland for a single game to face the Express in Coquitlam before they return home to host the Cowichan Valley Capitals for the first time this season on Friday night before the week concludes with a visit from the Langley Rivermen Saturday night. The Dogs enter play Wednesday night 8th place in the Coastal Conference with a record of 12-18-2 and 0 for 26 points, two back of the 7th placed Rivermen with the Dogs having three games in hand. The Dogs are 14 points back of the Express for 4th place and a playoff position, with the Dogs having two games in hand.
The Express sit 4th in the Conference with a record of 18-12-2 and 2 for 40 points, four back of Powell River with two games in hand. The Express last saw action Thursday on home ice where they won their fourth in a row, 2-1 over Powell River. It was 1-0 Express after one on an Alex Kerfoot power play goal just past the midway mark of the first, and a 1-1 tie after two periods with the Kings getting the equalizer six minutes into the second. The score would stay that way until the late stages of the third when the Express got the winner from Brady Shaw with three minutes to play.
Shots favoured Powell River 32-31 with Kahleed Devji picking up the win and second star honours. The Kings went 0 for 2 on the power play while the Express went 1 for 4.
This is the fifth meeting between the teams this season with the Express having the Dogs number so far holding a 4-1 edge. The Dogs won the first meeting in their season opener in September but since then the Express have rattled off four straight head to head wins. The most recent meeting was here in Coquitlam and it was one to forget for the Dogs as they were trounced 8-2.
Catch the pregame show Wednesday night from the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre 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 Capitals enter play Wednesday night sitting at the top of the Coastal Conference with a record of 21-9-1 and 4 for 47 points, three up on the Surrey Eagles with Surrey holding two games in hand. The Capitals were last in action December 29th where they had a modest two game winning streak snapped when dropped a 4-2 decision to the Eagles at Richmond’s Minoru Arena. After a scoreless first period the Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the eight minute mark of the second with two goals just a minute and a half apart. The Capitals got on the board to make a game of it on a Logan Proulx goal just over two minutes into the third to trim the gap to 2-1 but the Eagles put the game away five minutes later with back to back power play goals less than a minute apart to lead 4-1. Kyle Becker connected for the Capitals on a power play with less than two to play but it was too little too late.
Shots favoured the Capitals 33-29 with Derek Dun getting tagged with the loss in net. The Capitals went 1 for 4 on the power play while the Eagles went 2 for 6.
It’s the fourth meeting between the teams this season, and while the Caps lead the Conference and the Dogs sit in the basement the Dogs have owned the season series so far picking up 5 out of a possible 6 points with two wins and a tie so far, with all the games being played in Duncan. The most recent match up was on December 9th as the Dogs made a winner out of Kevin Willison in his debut behind the bench with a 3-1 triumph.
Catch the pregame show Friday 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
The Langley Rivermen enter play Wednesday with a record of 13-20-1 and 1, good for 28 points and 7th in the Coastal Conference. They were last in action December 29th when they picked up a 5-0 win over the Clippers in Langley. They will be just as busy as the Dogs leading up to Saturday’s game as they visit Powell River Thursday and Nanaimo Friday before ending their trip Saturday night.
Saturday’s tilt will be the fifth head to head matchup with the Dogs winning two of three so far. The teams split the first two games in Langley with each side winning 7-1 before the Dogs won the first meeting at the Dog Pound 4-0 on November 12th. The last time these teams met saw a wildly entertaining game end in a 4-4 tie at the Multiplex on December 11th.
Catch the pregame show Saturday night 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
