The over-the-hump home and home began Friday night in Nanaimo at the Frank Crane Arena. It wasn?t a pretty start for the Dogs, and that would unfortunately be a sign of things to come. Just 1:43 into the game Warren Muir centered a pass from behind the goal to Tyler Pistone right on the doorstep. David Aime would make the first couple of saves but Pistone was able to get one wack too many as he put it by David Aime for a 1-0 Clippers lead.
Later in the period the Dogs would get sent to the penalty box for a minor penalty. The problem was that the Bulldogs had five players still on the ice before the puck drop. The referee and both linesmen didn?t catch on to this, and proceeded to drop the puck. Play would go on for 11 seconds before the growl of the Frank Crane Crowd clued them in that something wasn?t right- the Dogs weren?t shorthanded after all. They would pay for that big time, as the Dogs were given a bench minor for too many men resulting in a 5 on 3 for 1:49 for the Clippers. Seconds after the Dogs had managed to kill off the first penalty it was the second one that killed them as Justin Favreau put a shot from the left point that hit the glove of David Aime and bounced in for a 2-0 Clipper lead on the power play 9:39 in with Tyler Pistone and Kevin Noble getting the assists. It was 3-0 Clippers when an initial 2 on 1 rush saw David Aime keep the puck out. He didn?t get any help though as AJ Gale was left unattended on the door step to just simply tap it in. Eric Filiou and Russell Goodman drew the assists on the scoring play at 13:35. The period ended with the Clippers making it 4-0 as Brodie Zuk took a pass from behind the goal from Brad McConnell and one-timed it in up and over Aime for the 4-0 lead with 1:14 to play in the first. The dogs came out with good energy and drive in the second and they were rewarded for with early as Daniel Moriarty took a pass and walked to the net before putting a backhand under the bar 4:31 in making it 4-1, with James Kerr and Marcello Ranallo getting the assists. The Dogs then did a good job on a big penalty kill to keep momentum and keeping it 4-1 but that was short-lived as the Clippers came back quickly as Russell Goodman had his dump in from what I thought was his side of centre get fed onto his tape on the door step by Eric Filiou for a 5-1 lead at the 8:42 mark. The lead became 6-1 at the 11:29 mark with one that was tough to watch as AJ Gale cleaned up the front of the net again as Russell Goodman was allowed to walk right to the goal mouth from behind the net while the Clippers were shorthanded. Harrison May would make 1 or 2 good toe saves on the chances, but again didn?t get help as Gale roofed the rebound. The only goal of the remainder of the game came 2:31 into the third as Eric Filiou took a rink wide pass on the rush from AJ Gale and put a snap shot through the arm of Harrison May from the left circle for the 7-1 final. Shots favoured Nanaimo 37-21. Michael Garman was the winner in net for Nanaimo while David Aime gave up the first four goals before being replaced by Harrison May for the final 40 minutes. The Dogs were 0 for 6 on the power play while the Clippers were 1 for 8 with a shorthanded goal.
Saturday was a snowy night on the Island as the teams met in Port Alberni for game two. Unfortunately the referees didn?t meet them as weather had them stuck down Island. Due to local emergency officials being found, the game was on shortly after 7:00pm. After the Dogs weren?t able to generate on an early power play chance before the Clippers went to a man advantage of their own where they took a 1-0 lead 6:07 into the game as Matt Irwin put a shot from the high slot through traffic and in past Harrison May. Tyler Pistone and Bryden McGhee picked up the assists. The Dogs would have several chances to tie it up on odd man rushes, and then a late power play. The Clippers would hold the fort though and they would then go up 2-0 shortly afterwards as a seeing-eye slap shot from the left point from Kevin Noble found its way to the net through traffic and past the glove of May with 1:53 left in the period. Bryden McGhee picked up the only assist. The turning point of the game might have come just 20 seconds into the second period, where a pretty play on the rush saw the Clippers go up 3-0 with a power play goal. Kevin Noble fed a pass up the left wing for Russell Goodman with speed over the Bulldogs line. Goodman then found a streaking Eric Filiou unmarked on the back door where he tapped it into the wide open net. The score stayed 3-0 until the latter stages of the period when it was Filiou found wide open on the backdoor on the power play again, but this time it wasn?t on the rush. Russell Goodman sent the puck from the right point down low to the right side of the goal to AJ Gale, who then put a cross crease pass on the tape of Filiou for the tap in for the 4-0 lead at the 15:32 mark. It was 5-0 just over a minute later as Brad McConnell took a feed in the slot from Mikael Bedard below the goal line and one-timed it high glove side on May at the 16:43 mark. The lead was 6-0 Clippers 5:03 into the third when Justin Favreau just simply put a shot on net from the top of the point. The shot again made it through, and went in high glove side on May. Russell Goodman and Kevin Noble had the assists on the power play goal. The Dogs got on the board 1:59 later and gave their fans a chance to toss their teddy bears as Marcello Ranallo just snapped one on goal from the right side that beat Evan Smith high glove side. James Kerr and Daniel Moriarty picked up the assists on the power play goal. The final salt in the wound came in the form of another Clipper power play, as Russell Goodman was the trigger man on a backdoor feed set up by Eric Filiou and AJ Gale at the 15:24 mark of the third for the 7-1 final score. Final shots favoured Nanaimo 43-20. Evan Smith picked up the win in net for the Clippers. Harrison May gave up the first six goals in taking the loss. David Aime came in after the sixth goal. Nanaimo was deadly on the power play going 5 for 9. The Dogs were 1 for 5.
It was a tough weekend for the Dogs, no doubt about it.
With all of the new players in the line up it will take a hard week of practice to come together as a team and get ready to play next weekend, as the Langley Chiefs are in town Saturday and the Burnaby Express visit the pound for the first time on Sunday afternoon. One thing I do know is that the staff and roster will be doing nothing less than practicing hard and preparing hard for the games to come.
A preview will be posted later in the week.
