For the third straight game the pace was great off the opening puck drop with no whistles through the first four minutes of the game. The action opened up shortly afterwards when each team picked up a penalty in a half-minute span which brought about four-aside hockey. The Caps would then pick up a bench minor which saw the Dogs go to the power play. The Dogs would have several glorious chances to open the scoring, most notably Evan Tironese walking in alone on Connor LaCouvee. Tironese would beat the goalie, but not the goal post as it stayed scoreless. The Capitals would take a 1-0 lead to the room after 20 minutes when they scored in the final minute of the period as Dane Gibson retrieved a Troy Patterson dump in and threw it out front where an un-checked Luke Gordon one-timed it home at the 19:08 mark.
The second period started with a Capitals power play that the Dogs killed off to keep it a 1-0 Caps lead. The Dogs struggled to get going, and the Caps built their lead to 2-0 when Teal Burns walked over the Bulldogs blue line down the right side and put a perfect shot off the post and in far-side on Jay Deo. Assists on the play went to Karver Everson and Keyler Bruce at 8:53 of the second. The Dog Pound was quiet in the ensuing minutes but it quickly was energized again as Jared Wilson challenged Jarrett Brown to a fight after Brown stepped up at centre and layed a crushing hit on Brandon Halls. While Wilson picked up the extra two minutes, it was worth it as the building and team appeared energized and got on the board on the rush as Eric Walker put the puck up the right wing where Tryg Strand knocked it down out of midair before feeding Manny Gialedakis, who set up Matt Hansen walking down the left wing where he put it top corner far side on Connor LaCouvee at 18:30 of the second for a 2-1 Dogs lead after two periods.
The energy continued over into the third period for the Bulldogs, as they quickly tied the game at 2-2 as Bo Pellah threw the puck back to the left point for Chase Van Allen who put a shot on net that was stopped by LaCouvee. Evan Tironese would get a first crack at the rebound before Ryan Lough found it and deposited it into the open side at the 1:15 mark of the third. Just two minutes later the Dogs had their first lead of the game as Manny Gialedakis set up Matt Hansen in the slot. Hansen’s shot was blocked but the loose puck ended up on the tape of Tryg Strand who roofed the rebound to make it 3-2 Dogs at 3:29 of the third. There would be no scoring the rest of the way with close calls both ways as Evan Tironese hit the post and the Capitals had a puck dancing on the goal line in the late stages of the game.
Final shots favoured the Bulldogs 40-38 with Jay Deo picking up the win while Connor LaCouvee took the loss. Both teams went 0 for 6 on the power play. The Dogs are next in action Saturday night as they try to stretch their win streak to three when they host the Langley Rivermen on “Teddy Bear Toss” night
