Friday night saw the Dogs take to the ice looking to win their third in a row as they hosted the Surrey Eagles. An end to end game early saw both teams get their chances before David Aime was forced to come up big to keep the game scoreless as he made several big saves in succession with the Eagles buzzing around the Dogs goal.
The Dogs would then attack the Eagles end and get on the board with former Eagle Ben Payne making his presence felt early in his return to the line up as he was allowed to walk out from behind the goal and right in on Justin Mulholland. Mulholland would make a great initial save on the Payne chance, but he couldn?t find the rebound before Chris Moulson was rewarded for crashing the crease as he tapped the rebound into the gaping 6 by 4 for a 1-0 Dogs lead 15:15 into the first. The assists on the goal went to Payne and Zack Mazo. Shortly after they took the lead the Dogs went to the power play looking to go up 2-0. It was the Eagles that would have the best chance to score though, as Nolan Toigo was awarded a penalty shot as Josh Pineiro took him down in attempt to chop the puck away on the back check with Toigo in alone on the breakaway. The score would say 1-0 though as David Aime came up big for the second time this season a penalty shot, as he stopped the Toigo wrist shot attempt. The Dogs would then get in penalty trouble shortly afterwards as they were whistled for two penalties in quick succession which saw the Eagles go to a two-man advantage. The Dogs would come up big on the kill though, killing the two man advantage off as the first period ended. The second penalty would be an immediate factor though as the second period kicked off, as a bang-bang passing play saw Adam Basford take a pass between the hash marks and rip it upstairs glove side on David Aime as it was a 1-1 tie just 29 seconds into the second period. Assists on the play went to Scott Knowles and Ryan Adams. Just over four minutes later the Eagles would strike again on the power play with more smooth puck movement coming after sustained pressure in the Dogs zone, when Cameron Sinclair took a rink wide pass off the back post and deposited the puck into the open side before Aime could get over. Max Grassi and Scott Knowles picked up the assists on the goal at the 4:56 mark of the second as it was 2-1 Eagles. The game momentum further swung the Eagles way just over a minute later when they went up 3-1 as Ryan Pajimola was found by Travis Gorman with a great rink-wide pass as he drove the net undetected. Scott Brownlee would pick up the second assist on the play 6:23 into the period. On the ensuing puck drop at centre ice, Bulldog captain Daniel Moriarty challenged Gorman to drop the mitts, in an attempt to wake his team up and wake the crowd at the Pound up. After the dust settled, it appeared that Moriarty?s efforts were successful as the building was roaring again in a hurry as he was the clear winner in the good ole? fashioned bout. The Dogs would get the crucial next goal to make a game of it, as Chris Moulson feed a pass through centre to Warren Muir over the Eagles blue line down the right side. Moulson would then go to the net and take the return pass from Muir, where he went to the backhand and stuffed in his own rebound to trim the gap to 3-2 with 6:36 to play in the period. The score would stay that way into the third, thanks to a great save by Justin Mulholland as he robbed Daniel Moriarty on a rebound chance on the doorstep. Moriarty would get some redemption for that one early in the third though, as he was rewarded for paying the prince on the doorstep as a good hardworking shift by all five players on the ice saw several battles won in the Eagles zone and the puck eventually thrown on the net. Mulholland would make the first save, but Moriarty jammed in the rebound for a 3-3 tie 3:37 into the third. Marcello Ranallo and Lee Patzer picked up the assists. Things didn?t stay even for long though, as the Eagles would go ahead again just over three minutes later with John Bokla putting a low, hard drive on net from the right circle. David Aime would make the first save, but Brody Toigo found the rebound in the slot as he drove the net and put it home as the Eagles were ahead again. Max Grassi would pick up the second assist on play 6:56 into the third. The Dogs would again have to play catch up, and for a while it wasn?t looking good as the Eagles did a good job to limit their scoring chances and any long stretches of Bulldog pressure in their zone. Then, with just 58 seconds remaining the Pound was sent into a frenzy when Ben Payne got the puck out of his own zone and to Daniel Moriarty who gained the Eagle blue line down the right wing. Moriarty would then send a pass back to Shane Malone, who walked to the middle of the blue line and blew a slap shot low and inside the far post for a 4-4 tie. The Bulldog coaching staff would then call a time out to talk over the final 58 seconds with overtime and a crucial point so close. In the end, it would be so close but so far as the Dogs couldn?t get the puck deep into the Eagles zone from centre, and they also couldn?t get the puck out of their own zone either. This would prove huge as a split second later the Eagles drove the dagger into the hearts of the Dogs and the fans in the pound with a rebound ending up in the back of the Bulldog net, either by Adam Hartley tapping it in or by the puck bouncing off of a Bulldog defender and in. It doesn?t matter HOW really, what matters is that it ended up in the net. Adam Hartley would get credit for the goal, with Max Grassi and Cameron Sinclair picking up the assists at the 19:18 mark of the third. The Dogs would pull their goaltender in a last ditch attempt to tie it for a second time in the final minute, but it wasn?t meant to be as they couldn?t get the puck on goal. Final shots favoured Surrey 37-34 with David Aime and Justin Mulholland being the goalies of record. Special teams were a big difference in this game, with the Dogs going 0 for 5 on the power play including missing on a 5 on 3 chance. The Eagles went 2 for 4 on the power play, also missing on a 5 on 3 advantage but they ended up scoring on the second penalty.
All in all, it was another good game by the Dogs, but possibly a step back from several of their previous efforts. The Eagles are certainly a solid team, and at the very least they weren?t a team that the Dogs could beat without playing their best game.
Sunday afternoon the Dogs hosted the Trail Smoke Eaters, who made their way over to the Island and down to Port Alberni though bad roads and heavy snowfall. The Smoke Eaters came out looking good early, or at the very least more ?game ready? than the Dogs, as they took a 1-0 lead just 2:30 into the game when Casey Shade took a pass off the back post from Brett Corcoran and tapped it into the open net for a 1-0 Trail lead after one. The Dogs would battle back to even it up in the second with a power play goal, as Lee Patzer worked the puck back to the left point where Kevin Ross sent a rink wide feed to Eliot Raibl who one-timed a slap shot past Paul Barclay for a 1-1 tie 4:17 into the second. The Dogs would carry the play and have the better of the chances through most of the period, but al
