The Dogs have just five games left in their season, including three this weekend. Friday night they will head down to the Bear Mountain Arena for a scary Friday the 13th showdown with the Victoria Grizzlies. Saturday the Dogs return home for the first time after five in a row on the road for what?s sure to be a loving affair against the Nanaimo Clippers on Valentine?s Day. The weekend then ends with a matinee Sunday against the Burnaby Express.
Friday the 13th will be the final meeting of the season between the Bulldogs and the RBC Cup Host Grizzlies. Will it be scary for the Dogs, or can they scare the Grizzlies? It might be a scary thought going in for the Dogs, as they have lost 10 of the 11 previous meetings against the Grizzlies this season. The only game they didn?t lose was a 3-3 tie in Victoria just after Christmas.
The Grizzlies enter this week with a record of 38-13-2 and 3, good for top spot in the Coastal Conference. The Grizzlies already have sealed up the first round bye in the Island Division playoffs, but they can find motivation from trying to win a Coastal Conference regular season championship and a BCHL regular season banner as well. The Grizzlies are 5 points up on the Powell River Kings with a game in hand for the Coastal title, and they are deadlocked with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks for tops in the league although Salmon Arm does have a game in hand.
The Grizzlies were last in action Sunday afternoon in Surrey where the Eagles broke their seven game winning streak with a 4-3 win. The Eagles would find first blood in this one, taking a 1-0 lead on a late first period power play goal. The Grizzlies would even it up before the period was out with a Cody Bremner tally with 3:25 to play in the first. The Eagles would score the only two goals of the second period to lead 3-1 into the third where the Grizz made a game of it with Madison Dias finding the net to make it 3-2 with less than nine minutes to play in regulation. The Eagles would get the insurance marker they needed with less than four minutes to go to make it 4-2, before the Grizzlies added a too-little-too-late power play goal with just two seconds left off the stick of Myles MacRae to make it 4-3
Final shots favoured Victoria 30-21 with Anthony Grieco taking the loss in goal. The Grizzlies went 1 for 5 on the power play while the Eagles were 0 for 5.
The Grizzlies are the only team in the Conference that the Dogs haven?t defeated yet this season. They won?t get another chance after Friday, so it?s now or never.
Friday?s pregame show from the Bear Mountain Arena kicks off at 7:15 with the puck dropping at 7:30 on 93.3 The Peak FM and the BCHL Fanzone
Saturday night the Dogs take to home ice after five straight games on the road as they host the Nanaimo Clippers for what?s sure to be a Valentine?s Day love-in between the two heated rivals. The two teams have played 10 times this season, with the Clippers winning eight of them. The Dogs have two wins and two overtime losses this season against Nanaimo, with both wins coming at the Frank Crane Arena and both OT losses coming at the Dog Pound. The last time these two teams played was a resounding 7-2 Clippers win at the Frank Crane on February 6th.
The Clippers enter this week with a record of 27-20-2 and 6, good for third spot in the Island Division, 7 points behind the second place Cowichan Valley Capitals. That spread will most likely change before the Clippers visit the Pound on Saturday, as they will host a spooky Friday the 13th game of their own as the Cowichan Valley Capitals will be in town.
Saturday?s pregame show from the Dog Pound is on the air at 6:45 with the play-by-play following at 7:00pm on 93.3 The Peak FM and the BCHL Fanzone.
Sunday afternoon will be the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Dogs and the Burnaby Express, two teams on the outside of the Coastal Conference playoff picture looking in. The Dogs have a 2 and 1 record against the Express this season, and they are currently on a two game winning streak head to head vs. The Express. Burnaby took game one of the season series in early October at the Bill Copeland Arena with a 4-3 win. The Dogs then got revenge with a 4-3 come-from-behind overtime win in Burnaby in late November. The next week the two teams met again at the Dog Pound as the ?game of firsts? saw the Dogs record their first shutout of the season with a 6-0 triumph.
The Express enter this week with a record of 17-31-1 and 5, good for 40 points and fourth spot in the Mainland Division. They are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention as they are 18 points behind the third placed Eagles with just six games remaining. Sunday?s game will be the third game in two and a half days for the Dogs, and it will be the same scenario for the Express as well as they are in Powell River for back-to-back games against the Kings Friday and Saturday night.
Catch all the action on 93.3 The Peak FM and the BCHL Fanzone with the pregame show starting at 2:15 Sunday with the play-by-play to follow at
