The Bulldogs began play last week on Wednesday night, when the hosted the Quesnel Millionaires at the Pound. The Bulldogs brought a 13 game losing streak into the game, and the Millionaires brought an 0 and 5 all-time record at the Pound into the game. When it was all said and done, the Bulldogs ended their streak and the Millionaires had their streak continue. The Dogs came out flying, going up 1-0 10:43 into the first on the power play, as Shane Malone and Kevin Ross did a great job on the blue line moving the puck and keeping it in the Mills zone. Malone would then find Moriarty on the top of the right circle, where he snapped a high hard one short-side shelf on Jeff Malcolm. The Dogs kept their foot on the gas and were rewarded for it, as Matt Frydrysek brought the puck behind the net, and then threw it out front to Adam Baldassarre, who was standing on the top of the crease. Baldassarre would one-time the pass through the five hole of Malcolm for a 2-0 Dogs lead with 3:37 left in the period. Zack Mazo also picked up an assist on the play as the Dogs carried that lead into period two. The score would stay that way throughout much of the second, but the Millionaires would get in the game making it 2-1 with 1:28 left in the period as a faceoff in the Dogs zone quickly ended up at the net where Tom Margetak chipped the puck up and under the bar for a 2-1 score into period three. Mitchell Smith and Darryl Gagnon picked up the assists on the play. The Dogs would begin period three in the penalty box, but would hold their lead with good penalty killing and good goaltending by Harrison May. The Dogs would continue to play a safe game throughout the remainder of the period, protecting their net and protecting Harrison May and their 2-1 lead. The Millionaires would the pull the goaltender looking for tying goal with the extra attacker and 90 seconds left in the third. Instead of a goal, they would find a penalty, as Mitchell Smith hauled down Shane Malone as he stepped out from behind the Dogs net. With the penalty, it remained a 5 on 5 situation with the Mills goalie out. The Dogs would miss an ill advised shot at the empty net that resulted in an icing and one more tense faceoff, but Daniel Moriarty did a good job to not let the Millionaires get possession as the buzzer sounded and the weight of a thousand monkeys lifted off of the players, coaches, staff, and fans as the streak was broken and the Dogs had a very much deserved 2-1 victory. The Millionaires outshot the Dogs 33-30. Harrison May and Jeff Malcolm were the goalies of record. The Dogs were 0 for 2 on the power play, while the Mills were 0 for 3. Friday night saw the Dogs play their last game before the holiday break as the Victoria Grizzlies made their third trip of the season into the pound. Thoughts of the Christmas break might have been a factor early as the Dogs couldn?t get the puck out of their zone before Grant Toulmin found Brian Nugent who walked to the slot and put a wrister through David Aime for a 1-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game. The Dogs would do a good job of getting their feet under them, and a hard working shift would result in the Grizzlies taking a penalty. The Dogs would score late in the power play, as James Kerr passed off to Mark Morikawa, who brought the puck from behind the goal and out the left side before throwing a rink wide pass to Evan Witt in the right circle. Witt would wait a moment before ripping a shot short-side top shelf for a 1-1 tie 11:57 into the first. The Dogs kept the pressure on and carried the play, but it was an odd goal that saw the Grizzlies up 2-1 after one when a shot from the right wing appeared from my vantage point to bounce off David Aime, and then off of Justin Courtnall who was tied up off the back post by Shane Malone. The puck then bounced over the goal line as Aime did his best to keep it out. It was certainly an odd one. As would be the theme of the night, the Dogs would fire back again to tie it, this time with Matt Frydrysek taking a pass down the right wing from Zack Mazo and then driving the net to stuff in his own rebound 4:46 into the second for a 2-2 tie. Mazo and Adam Baldassarre picked up the assists. The Grizzlies would go ahead again when they went to the power play after hemming the Dogs inside their own zone. On the power play Brian Nugent would make it 3-2 getting his second of the game tipping a point shot from Ashford McMaster through the legs of Aime at the 10:35 mark. Jonathan Milhouse picked up the second assist as the Grizzlies took that 3-2 lead into period three. Yet again the Dogs fired back, as it was Adam Hout taking a pass from the right corner from Evan Witt and rifling a one-timer right under the cross bar from the high slot for a 3-3 tie 2:02 into the third. Mark Morikawa also picked up an assist on the scoring play. Again the Grizzlies got the next one, this time just 2:18 later, as a Grant Toulmin shot from the right wing was blocked and ended up down low on the stick of Keenan Desmet, who would throw a pass right onto the tape of Brian Nugent off the doorstep. He again would make no mistake, completing the hat trick for a 4-3 Victoria lead 4:20 into the third. Things weren?t looking good for the Dogs throughout the period as the Grizzlies were doing a good job to not let them get any sustained pressure in the Victoria end to try and get the equalizer again. The Dogs would end up getting the 4-4 goal on an odd play where Chris Moulson brought the puck over the Grizzlies line on the rush, and put a shot at the goal. That shot was blocked, and bounced to the right corner, where it would then carom right back to the slot where a driving Warren Muir scored his first as a Dog chipping it up and over Matthew Wong from a tough angle with 5:12 to go. With under two minutes to go, the Dogs appeared to be heading out of their zone, but a miscue saw the puck stay in. That would lead to a backdoor chance where Eliot Raibl was forced to dump a wide-open Grizzly forward to save a goal. He would be sent to the box, as the Grizzlies went to the power play looking for the game winner. The Dogs would come agonizingly close to forcing overtime, but the Grizzlies would indeed find the winner, coming in the form of a backdoor pass from Grant Toulmin to Brian Nugent, who one-timed it in for his fourth tally of the night for the heartbreaker with just 17 seconds to play putting Victoria up 5-4. Jonathan Milhouse picked up the second assist. The Dogs mounted a last-gasp chance to tie it, and that would come agonizingly close as well, as a sharp angle shot hit Wong and then rolled across the goal line but never crossed it, much to the chagrin of the Dogs and their fans at the Pound. Final shots favoured the Dogs 40-32. David Aime and Matthew Wong were the goalies of record. The Dogs were 1 for 4 on the power play, while the Grizzlies were 2 for 5. It was certainly a tough one for the Dogs to lose, but it was again a pleasure to watch the team battle so hard all night and not give up, coming back on four different occasions to even the score. Looking back on the game as a whole, all I can think is LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SHOOT THE PUCK as both sides found the net more than once just by throwing the puc
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