When it comes to recapping the Bulldogs action last week, it is a tale of two different teams on back to back days.
Game #1 for the Bulldogs last week was on Thursday night as they hosted the Prince George Spruce Kings at the Pound. This game had a great start, with no whistles through the first three minutes of play and good end to end action. The Spruce Kings would go to the game?s first power play, and it looked like they had the first goal of the game past Frank Slubowski. The Dogs would get a break as it would be called back by referee Carl Poole as a penalty on the play went to the Spruce Kings. The Dogs would have two good chances to take leads on 2 on 1 rushes, but Kevin Genoe came up with good saves on Zack Mazo and Lee Patzer to keep the game scoreless. Late in the period the Dogs would find the game?s first goal as Lee Patzer did a great job to somehow get his stick on a wayward pass at centre and get it deep into the Prince George zone. Chris Moulson would hustle in on the fore-check and get the puck from behind the goal right out front to Mark Morikawa who one-timed it high far side on Kevin Genoe at the 16:34 mark of the first for a 1-0 Dogs lead after one. The Spruce Kings would come close to finding the net early in the second as they began the period on the man advantage. It would be close but no cigar as they rang a shot off the post that would?ve tied it at 1-1. The Bulldogs would then get a power play of their own and they capitalized on the advantage as Mark Morikawa and Ben Payne moved the puck around patiently and smoothly and got a shot on goal that was initially stopped by Kevin Genoe. He couldn?t control the rebound though, and that would be a problem as Lee Patzer went to the net and got rewarded for it as he jammed it home for a 2-0 Dogs lead at the 8:43 mark of the second. Almost seven minutes to the second later, it was the Bulldogs power play coming up big again as Daniel Moriarty worked the puck off the left wing boards to the top of the blue line for Marcello Ranallo who blasted a shot on goal. Ben Payne would either deflect the initial shot or poke the loose puck from behind Genoe the rest of the way over the goal line for a 3-0 lead 15:42 into the second. The Spruce Kings seemed to react well to being on the verge of getting blown out, as they responded just 1:59 later to make it 3-1 as Jordy Christian walked to the net and beat Frank Slubowski low along the ice with 2:19 left in the period. Sam Muchalla and Joe Morgan picked up the assists. The Spruce Kings came dangerously close to making it a 3-2 game when Christian found Zach Davies with a pass through centre walking down the left wing as he cut through the seam and in alone on Slubowski. Davies would deke and slide the puck just wide of the post as the score stayed 3-1 after two. The score would stay 3-1 into the last five minutes of the game, when Nick Sandor made it 4-1 as he scored a beauty for his first BCHL goal as he got the puck up in a hurry to roof it short side with 4:15 to play. Matt Frydrysek and Zack Mazo picked up the assists. The Kings would fire right back to make it 4-2 as Dan Correale went forward on a faceoff at his own blue line and then picked up the puck and split the Bulldogs defence to dance in on the breakaway where he beat Slubowski for a 4-2 score with 2:02 to play. The goal was unassisted. If anything, Correale set up himself. In the end, the goal wouldn?t matter as Slubowski and the Dogs wouldn?t give up anything else. Final shots were 40-37 in favour of the Dogs. Frank Slubowski and Kevin Genoe were the goalies of record. It was certainly a special night for Slubowski as he earned first star honours and his first BCHL win in his home ice debut. Special teams were pivotal in this game as the Bulldogs were 2 for 5 on the power play while the Kings were 0 for 6.
Friday night the Bulldogs went for two in a row as they hosted the Cowichan Valley Capitals. Right from the outset the Dogs looked different than the team that came out the night before. Or, it was the Cowichan Valley Capitals that were a much different team than the Prince George Spruce Kings. The Capitals looked less like a struggling team on a four game slide and more like a team that was highly motivated for their playoff lives. Maybe it?s a combination of both.
I don?t think it would be fair to say that the Bulldogs didn?t bring an effort Friday. Some players certainly did bring the same effort they had the night before. What can certainly be said however is that the Capitals wanted it a bunch more than the Bulldogs did as a collective whole, and it was all too obvious for those watching. The Caps came out flying, hitting and hustling. They would be rewarded for their efforts at the 12:59 mark of the first as Brian Matte started off what would be a big night for him as he banged in a third rebound attempt in front of Harrison May after an initial point shot by Greg Brown was deflected on net. Assists on the play went to Kyle Clay and Joey Massingham. Shots would be an ugly stat in this game, as the Caps had a 12-3 advantage after one. It would still be anyone?s game until the dying minutes of the second, although the Caps continued to own the shot clock with the Dogs having just five shots on goal through the first period and all the way until the final five minutes of the second. Of note in the earlier parts of the second would be a three minute penalty kill by the Dogs as Matt Frydrysek was given a five minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct. The two bright spots on the night- Harrison May and the penalty kill, kept the game at 1-0 until the 16:14 mark of the second when it was Brian Matte again finding the net at the end of a long extended shift in the Bulldogs zone as he took a pass from behind the goal line from Nick Anderson and Willie Coetzee and one-timed it past May for a 2-0 lead with 3:44 to play in the period. The backbreaker might?ve come just two minutes later as a bad turnover saw the puck end up on the stick of a wide open Matte in the high slot. He would make no mistake from there to complete the natural hat trick, ripping it high glove side on May for a 3-0 Caps lead with 1:39 to play in the period. The goal was unassisted. The only goal of the third period came on a four on four situation as the last Bulldog defender fell down at centre giving Nick Anderson all the time in the world on the breakaway in on May. Anderson would leg kick and fake before tapping the puck five hole for the 4-0 Capitals advantage and the eventual final score with 4:35 left. Willie Coetzee and Greg Brown picked up the assists. Final shots favoured Cowichan 42-20. Kiefer Smiley picked up the win and the shut out in the Caps goal. Harrison May would take the loss but he certainly gave his team every chance to win. Port Alberni born Braeden Johnson would be given some playing time in relief after the fourth goal. Special teams weren?t a factor on the scoreb
