The Bulldogs opened up their three game road trip Thursday night in Langley where they faced the Chiefs for the second time this season.
The Chiefs would take a 1-0 lead 4:20 into the first when Colton Beck found a rebound in the slot after a great initial save by Matthew Wong from the hash marks on Mac Roy. Chris Ickert would also get an assist on the play. The score stayed 1-0 until the late stages of the first when the Chiefs struck on the power play as Josh McEwan tipped in a Brad Bakken point shot at the 15:37 mark for a 2-0 Langley lead after one. The scored stayed that way all the way until the last minute of the second when the Dogs got on the board on a power play of their own as Evan Witt ripped a shot from the left circle high short side on Wyatt Waselenchuk to make it 2-1 with just 47 seconds left in the period. Kevin Ross picked up the only assist. The Chiefs came out guns blazing in the third, and they retook their lead just 35 seconds in when Derek Grant scored on a rebound after several great point blank saves by Wong. Later in the period, after two more great saves by Wong to keep them in it, the Dogs battled back to make it 3-2 when Johnny Rogic drove down the left wing and found Jackson Garrett in the slot where he one-timed it home with 7:22 remaining. Brian Kang also picked up an assist on the play. The Dogs looked like they had tied it just moments later when Evan Witt scored, but play had been whistled dead due to a high stick making contact. That would end up being as close as they would get as the Chiefs held on for the 3-2 win.
Final shots favoured Langley 35-32 with Matthew Wong and Wyatt Waselenchuk being the goalies of record. The Dogs were 1 for 8 on the power play while the Chiefs were 1 for 6.
Friday the Dogs road trip continued as they faced the Surrey Eagles for the first time this season. The Eagles would take a 1-0 lead in the game at the 9:02 mark of the first, as Adam Hartley fired one through the legs of Matthew Wong on a 5 on 3 power play. Chris Santiago picked up the lone assist. The Eagles built the lead to 2-0 later in the period as Hartley struck again, slamming a rebound home from the slot with the lone assist going to Derek Henderson at 12:19 of the first. Into period two the lead was 3-0 Surrey when they struck on the power play 7:13 into the second when a blocked shot ended up on the stick of Tyler Morley off the back post for the open net put away. Mike Krgovich and Ryan Pajimola picked up the assists. The Eagles kept coming, building the lead to 4-0 as Krgovich split the Bulldogs defence and went in alone on Matthew Wong where he put a perfect top shelf shot glove side on Wong. Derek Henderson picked up the only assist on the play at the 9:34 mark. That would be it for Matthew Wong?s night as Colin Rundell would come into the game in relief. The Dogs would give him some offensive support less than two minutes later as they got on the board on the power play as Chris Moulson sent the puck to Kevin Ross in the left circle where he put a slap shot on goal that resulted in a rebound in the slot. Warren Muir would find the rebound and put it into the open net before Tommy Tartaglione could recover to make it 4-1 Eagles with 8:54 left in the second. The Eagles came out in the third period and immediately took the four goal lead back as Mike Henderson found a loose puck that snuck through the legs of Rundell and scored into the open net just 56 seconds in. Andrew Wallace and Darnell Dyck picked up the assists. It was then 6-1 Eagles 7:52 into the period as Ryan Pajimola raced after a loose puck on a faceoff in the Eagles zone and beat the Bulldogs defence to the net for the shorthanded breakaway. Rundell would make the first save, but Pajimola found his own rebound and put it home for the unassisted goal. The final salt in the wound came with the Eagles on the power play late in the game, as Doug Marshall put a wrist shot on goal from the blue line that hit a Bulldog on the way to the net before changing directions and bouncing into the open side for a 7-1 score with 5:07 left in regulation. Steven Ceccanese and Adam Hartley picked up the assists.
Final shots favoured Surrey 41-35. Matthew Wong took the loss after allowing the first four goals in 29:34 of work before Colin Rundell came in and gave up three over the last half of the game. Tommy Tartaglione picked up the win in net for Surrey. The Dogs were 1 for 7 on the power play while the Eagles were 3 for 8 while also scoring once shorthanded.
The Bulldogs roadie finally came to an end in Burnaby Saturday night where they faced the Express for the first time this season. For the fifth straight game the Bulldogs fell into a 2-0 hole when the Express struck first at the 2:33 mark on the power play as Mike Leidl?s wrist shot went top corner through traffic from Dylan Herold and Simon Denis. It was 2-0 again on the power play at the 6:11 mark as Max Grassi found a loose puck on the doorstep off a centering pass and put it in the open side. Assists went to Dylan Herold and Brodie Reid. The Dogs showed considerable guts to battle out of the hole, as it was first Mark Morikawa being set up on the doorstep by Zack Mazo after he was first to the puck and won a battle to get loose and send the pass out front. Morikawa would put a perfect glove side wrist shot high over Mike Chan for his second of the season 8:01 into the first to cut the lead in half. It was again Mazo getting the offence going, sending Chris Moulson in on the breakaway where he put a low wrist shot stick side on Chan with 1:38 left in the period for a 2-2 tie after one period. The Express came out in the second and got their third of the game on the power play to lead 3-2 when Max Grassi took a rink wide pass in the left circle and put a wrist shot high far corner on Wong at the 3:48 mark. Assists went to Brodie Reid and John Bokla. The Dogs looked to tie it just minutes later on the power play, but it would instead be the Express taking a 4-2 lead as Max Grassi completed the hat trick when he stole the puck at his own blue line and raced in on the shorthanded breakaway where he scored on a nice backhand deke that he put top shelf. The goal was unassisted at the 5:56 mark of the second as the Express led 4-2 after 40 minutes. The Dogs would make a game of it in the third when Eliot Raibl scored on a one-timer from the right circle on a cross ice pass by Sam Mitchell. Zack Mazo was again in on the play, as he had a hand in setting up all three Bulldog goals on the night. The goal came with 9:17 left in regulation to trim the gap to 4-3. Matthew Wong would give his team a chance to win it with just under six minutes left in the third as Anthony Collins raced in on a clear cut breakaway, only to have Wong get a blocker on his shot to keep it out. The Bulldogs would also give thems
