The Bulldogs returned the favour Saturday and headed down to Duncan to face the Capitals. The Dogs were flying from the opening puck drop, while the Capitals were flat, as the Dogs drew a penalty early in the game and then connected on the power play to lead 1-0. Jared Wilson would find Evan Tironese in the slot where he threw a quick shot on net that was stopped by Patrick Spano. Mitch Crisanti would get the first touch on the rebound, before Ryan Lough jammed it home. Assists on the play went to Crisanti and Chase Van Allen 1:37 into the first. The Dogs spent the next couple of minutes controlling the play, but they weren’t able to build the lead. The Capitals would quickly get their feet under them and control the back half of the period, scoring just short of the midway point on the rush as Jay Deo made the first save and a rebound save on Kyle Horsman before the third chance found its way over the line with Hayden-James Berra getting credit for it from Dane Gibson and Rylan Bechtel at 9:53 of the first. Four minutes later it was a 2-1 Caps lead on the power play on a crazy deflection as Garrett Skrbich threw the puck at the net from the high slot, only to have it hit a stick and ring off the crossbar. It fell behind Jay Deo, who couldn’t locate it before Grant Nicholson poked it home. Skrbich and Mikael Jung picked up the helpers at 13:31 of the first for a 2-1 Caps lead after one, with a 15-6 lead in shots.
The early parts of the second period saw a plethora of penalties from Referee Ryan Benbow, first the Bulldogs way, then the Caps, then the Dogs again, as the Capitals went to a 4 on 3 power play. The Dogs would kill that off, but when it was back to a 5 on 4 man-advantage the Capitals connected on the rush as Jesse Neher took a drop pass from Mitch Ball in the left circle and went top-corner short-side on Jay Deo, who never saw it through the traffic. Luke Gordon also picked up an assist on the play at 6:38 of the second to make it 3-1. The Dogs would appear to catch fire following the goal when Nick Kerr took exception on a Karver Everson hit on Matt Hansen and dropped the gloves with him at centre. While the Dogs would control the bulk of the play to end the period, including on a 5 on 3 power play, but Spano was outstanding in the Capitals net to protect the 3-1 lead after 40 minutes with the Dogs holding 27-19 advantage in shots.
The Bulldogs opened the third period absolutely flying, appearing to score on the power play just 17 seconds in to make it 3-2, but after initially signalling goal Referee Ryan Benbow instead ruled no goal. The Dogs would persevere any get on the board anyway less than a minute later when Hunter Stewart fed Chase Van Allen at the left point, where he in turn found Evan Tironese at the bottom of the right circle with a cross-ice pass that he roofed top corner short-side to make it 3-2 1:01 into the third. Three minutes later it was a tie game when Eric Walker sent a wicked slap shot over the Caps net, only to have the end-glass carom end out up front where Nick Kerr slapped it into the open side before Spano could find it to make it 3-3 just 3:56 into the third. The Dogs would have countless chances to go ahead throughout the period but Spano was great to keep it 3-3. The Dogs finally went ahead with just 2:16 to play as Evan Tironese first worked hard to fight off a back checker at centre to get the puck ahead to Ryan Lough, who drove the middle of the Capitals zone. He would lose the puck in the slot where Tironese followed the play up and fought to get his stick free from a Capital defender before wiring a slap shot off the post and in, blocker side to make it 4-3 at the 17:44 mark with Lough getting the only assist. The Dogs would hold the lead over the final two minutes before hitting the empty net with two seconds to go as Ryan Lough added his second of the game from the Caps blue line with Tryg Strand and Evan Tironese picking up the assists at 19:58 for the 5-3 final score.
Final shots favoured the Bulldogs 54-26 (a season high) with Jay Deo picking up the win while Patrick Spano took the loss while earning 1st star honours. The Dogs went 2 for 5 on the power play while the Caps went 2 for 4.
Dogs win fourth in a row, 5-3 over Capitals
