The Dogs week began Friday night as they visited the Victoria Grizzlies for the final time this season. Things were looking Friday the 13th-like for the Dogs early as the Grizzlies took a 1-0 lead before the game was four minutes old when Lee Baldwin blasted a one-timer from the top of the left circle high glove side on Colin Rundell. Assists on the power play marker went to Derek Lee and Teal Burns at the 3:40 mark of the first.
The Dogs battled back quickly, with Mitch MacMillan scoring from a sharp angle driving down the left wing before putting the puck on net from the goal line where it banked off of Alex Peck and went in. Assists on the play went to Evan Witt and Brett Mohler 7:06 into the first. Just over a minute later the Dogs took a 2-1 lead on a nifty set up by Chris Moulson as he flipped the puck high in the air through neutral ice and into the Victoria zone. Robert Lindores would race by the Victoria defenders as the puck was in the air, and as the puck landed he was in alone on the breakaway where he went blocker side past Alex Peck. Adam Hout also picked up an assist on the play at the 8:17 mark of the first. The Dogs built their lead to 3-1 later in the period as Brett Mohler drove the net down the left wing before putting a drop pass onto the tape of Chris Moulson who blew a slap shot from the left circle high glove side. The goal came with 3:24 left in the period. The Dogs would add one more before the period was out to lead 4-1 when Evan Witt drove down the right wing before taking a big hit in the corner to get the puck behind the net to Mitch MacMillan. He would quickly throw a pass to the slot for Adam Hout who put a high hard slap shot past Peck with 50 seconds to go in the period. The second period would be just as crazy as the first, as the Grizzlies scored early to trim the deficit to 4-2 on a slap shot from the right point on the power play that hit traffic in the slot and went in. Jeff Forsythe would get credit for the goal with Lee Baldwin and Derek Lee getting credit for the assists 2:17 into the second. Just past the halfway mark of the game the Grizzlies found the net again, this time on a 5 on 3 power play with Derek Lee converting the cross-crease backdoor pass from Jonathan Milhouse. Jeff Forsythe also picked up an assist as it was 4-3 Bulldogs with 10:18 gone in the second. Just three minutes later the Grizzlies found the net again to tie it up at 4-4 with their first even strength goal of the game as Shaun Stuart faked a slap shot before walking around the shot blocker to the net where he beat Colin Rundell five hole. Trevor Hertz and Tyler Gubb got the assists at 13:08 of the second. The Dogs didn?t let the blown lead affect them, as just nine seconds later they were right back on top again at 5-4 as Brian Kang found a rebound in front and roofed it over Anthony Grieco who relieved Alex Peck in the Victoria net after the first period. Taylor Orser and Zack Mazo picked up the assists at 13:18 of the second. The Grizzlies battled back to tie it up two minutes later on an odd-man rush as Colin Rundell made the first save on Brian Nugent but he couldn?t get the rebound as Jonathan Milhouse potted it into a wide open net for a 5-5 tie. Derek Lee also picked up an assist at the 15:49 mark of the second. The third period finally saw the scoring cool down, with neither team able to find the net as the game went to overtime. Late in the first overtime the Dogs would be awarded a power play chance, but they couldn?t capitalize as the game went to 3 on 3 in double OT as the power play elapsed. Shortly afterwards the Grizzlies would find the winner as Dustin Mowrey threw the puck to the net from the right corner where Tyler Gubb jammed it home for the 6-5 final. Lee Baldwin also picked up an assist on the play 2:44 into double overtime.
Final shots favoured the Dogs 47-31 with Colin Rundell taking the loss. Anthony Grieco picked up the win after coming into the game to start the second period.
The Dogs returned to home ice on Saturday night after 5 straight games on the road. The return to home ice was actually delayed by about a half an hour due to a hole in the ice, but once the game got going the Dogs came out flying carrying the play early. They wouldn?t find the net until the latter stages of the period when Adam Hout dumped the puck in from the right point into the left corner. The puck would bounce hard off the boards right back into the slot where Brett Mohler quickly roofed it glove side on Evan Smith for a 1-0 Bulldog lead. Mitch MacMillan also picked up an assist on the goal with just 4:36 left in the opening period. The score stayed that way until almost the same moment of the second period when the Clippers got the equalizer off a rebound in front that was jammed home by Tyler Pistone. Tyler Mah and Russell Goodman picked up the assists as the game was tied at 1-1 with 4:51 remaining in the second. The Dogs would fire back to take their lead back before the period was out as Brian Kang forced a turnover in the Nanaimo end before getting the puck out front to Evan Witt who ripped it short-side high before Smith could get set for the shot. The goal came with just 22 seconds left in the second period. Chris Moulson also picked up an assist as the Dogs led 2-1 after two. The Clippers quickly erased the lead in the first minute of the third as Steve Mason carried the puck down the right wing and drove hard to the net where he muscled the puck through Colin Rundell for a 2-2 tie just 55 seconds into the third. Connor Krukowski picked up the only assist. Shortly after the goal the Clippers would go to the power play, and things would get worse seconds later as the Dogs were singled out after the whistle for the only penalty to put them down two men. The Clippers made short work of the 5 on 3, with Eric Filiou one-timing a Russell Goodman pass in the slot through the five hole of Rundell for a 3-2 Nanaimo lead just 2:37 into the third. The Dogs didn?t let the two quick ones deflate them as the fought back to tie the game five minutes later when Warren Muir banked a wrap around off of Smith and in for a 3-3 tie 8:22 into the third. Zack Mazo and Brian Kang picked up the assists. The Dogs would have plenty of chances the rest of the third to find the winner, as they outshot the Clippers 21-10 over the final period, but they just couldn?t beat Smith as the game went to overtime. Much like the night before, the first overtime settled nothing. In double overtime Steve Mason ended things quickly as he walked right down Main Street into the high slot of the Dogs zone before ripping a shot top corner off the bar an in for the game winner just 30 seconds into double overtime. Colin Dueck picked up the only assist.
It was another tough one for the Dogs, their second night in a row losing in double overtime all while out shooting their opponents by a considerable margin. Shots favoured the Dogs 54-37 with Colin Rundell and Evan Smith being the goalies of record. The Cli
