The Bulldogs week began Friday night as they visited the Grizzlies at Bear Mountain Arena. The Dogs started the game off well with several good scoring chances but they then ended up behind the 8-ball in a big hurry with back to back penalties in quick succession seeing them down two men. The Grizzlies would make quick work of the two-man advantage, with a point shot hitting the glove of Slubowski and ending up behind him where Joel Lowry tapped it in to make it 1-0 Victoria 7:01 into the first. Assists went to Nick Buchanan and Sean Robertson. The Dogs would kill off the remaining power play time before getting on the man advantage themselves. While they wouldn?t find the net on the power play, they certainly came out of it with momentum from several great chances. The Dogs would get on the board just minutes later as Connor Varley intercepted a pass at centre ice and then fed a streaking Lars Hepso down the right wing where he raced in alone on the breakaway where he snapped one through the legs of Matt Ginn to tie it at 1-1 13:12 into the first. The Dogs would continue to get ample opportunities throughout the first and into the second, but it took all the way until the 13:26 mark of the second before they found the net again, this time on the power play, as Casey Bailey knocked the puck out of mid air to keep it inside the Victoria zone before he found Tyler Berkholtz down low who put a perfect cross-crease feed onto the tape of Sam Mitchell who slammed it into the open side for a 2-1 Dogs lead. The lead was short-lived as just four minutes later it was 2-2 as the Dogs were painfully close to clearing the zone but the Grizzlies held the puck in and then worked a 2 on 1 to perfection with Chase Paylor converting a cross-ice pass from David Morley at the backdoor as he one-timed one into the top part of the net before Frank Slubowski could get over. Wesley Myron also picked up an assist on the play 17:10 into the second as it was 2-2 after 40 minutes. The Grizzlies would take their second lead of the game just short of five minutes into the third with their second 5 on 3 goal of the game as Joel Lowry scored his second of the night converting a cross-crease feed from David Morley. Nick Buchanan also had an assist 4:55 into the third as it was 3-2 Grizzlies. The Dogs would have their chances throughout the remainder of the third but they couldn?t beat Matt Ginn to find the equalizer before the Grizzlies scored into an empty net to seal the deal as David Morley found the open cage with 15 seconds to play for the 4-2 final.
Shots favoured the Dogs 34-19 with Frank Slubowski getting tagged with the loss and Matt Ginn earning first star honours with the win. The Dogs were 1 for 6 on the power play while the Grizzlies were 2 for 8. The loss snapped the Dogs six game unbeaten streak.
Saturday night the Dogs returned home to host the Prince George Spruce Kings and they started the game off with a bang as just over a minute in it was 1-0 with Kenney Morrison taking a drop pass and ripping a slap shot past the blocker side of Ryan Benitez. The Dogs didn?t keep the momentum going however, as just four minutes later it was 1-1 as Chris Bodo stole the puck at the Dogs line and walked in alone down the right wing and ripped it short-side high on Kiefer Giroux, who was making his BCHL debut in net. The Dogs retook the lead late in the period when Trent Murdoch scored his first as a Dog, picking up a loose puck behind the net off a missed point shot and tucking into the open side on the wrap around. Assists on the power play goal went to Brandon Adams and Connor Varley 13:40 into the first. The Dogs would have a glorious chance to go up 3-1 as Tyler Berkholtz was awarded a penalty shot after being hooked on a breakaway, but Ryan Benitez came up with a big save to keep it 2-1 Bulldogs after one. The Dogs would have plenty of chances in the second period to build their lead, finally finding the net on the power play as a lost faceoff ended up on the stick of Tyler Berkholtz who ripped it five hole on Benitez for a 3-1 Dogs lead 9:02 into the second. The only assist went to Sam Mitchell as it was 3-1 Bulldogs after two periods. The third period would be a wild and crazy one, with as many goals as the first two periods combined PLUS a giant Salmon making an appearance on the ice. The Spruce Kings got it started just over three minutes in when RJay Berra found a rebound in front on the power play and fired it home to make it 3-2 from Nic DeSousa and Jeff Earnest 3:32 into the period. The Dogs didn?t give the Spruce Kings any chance to get any momentum going as just 19 seconds later they restored the two goal lead as Trent Murdoch took a drop pass from Casey Bailey in the slot and ripped a low shot stick side past Benitez to make it 4-2 at the 3:51 mark. It was 5-2 Dogs at the 12:34 mark when Trent Dorais did a good job of retrieving his stick after getting tied it with Trevor Esau, finding the puck, and putting a perfect pass onto the tape of Casey Bailey who ripped one home from the slot. Sam Mitchell also picked up an assist. With just over three minutes left in the game as large Salmon found it?s way onto the ice, with a sign attached to his tail celebrating Port Alberni winning the Canada-wide ?Ultimate Fishing Town? contest. The crowd roared in approval, but so did the Spruce Kings, as just seconds after play resumed they made it 5-3 as Nic DeSousa put a perfect shot top corner glove side past Giroux from the left faceoff dot. Jujhar Khaira and RJay Berra had the assists at 16:28 of the third period. The Spruce Kings would add one more when RJay Berra put a shot on net off the faceoff that was stopped by Giroux, but Nic DeSousa beat everyone to the net and fired home the rebound with 18 seconds left. The goal was shorthanded, but scored 5 on 5 as the Spruce Kings had their goalie pulled for the extra attacker. That would be as close as the Spruce Kings would get as time ran out on their comeback. While the Dogs held on to win the game, and played a great game for the most part, the coaching staff certainly was not happy with how the Dogs seemed to take their foot off the gas pedal before the final buzzer sounded.
Final shots favoured the Dogs 40-25. Kiefer Giroux picked up the win in net in his first BCHL start while Ryan Benitez took the loss but played a strong game. The Dogs were 2 for 7 on the power play while the Spruce Kings went 1 for 5 while also scoring once shorthanded.
The Dogs have two more home games coming up this week with the Victoria Grizzlies in town Tuesday night and the Salmon Arm Silverbacks making their only visit of the season to the Dog Pound on Saturday night.
