The Dogs final week of the season began Friday night in Cowichan as they visited the Capitals. The game started with plenty of excitement, as Kevin Walrod was awarded a penalty shot after being fouled on a breakaway before the game was two minutes old. Colin Rundell would come up with the stop to keep the game at 0-0.
The game wasn?t scoreless long though as the Capitals hit the scoreboard just minutes later with Taylor Holst walking into the slot and putting a shot blocker side past Rundell 3:45 into the first. Assists on the play went to Chris Zaires and Anthony Perdicaro. Just five minutes later it was 2-0 Cowichan as Kevin Walrod won a faceoff in the Dogs end back to Nicholas Wong at the left point. His shot at the net would be tipped in past Rundell by Chad Hohmann on the doorstep for a 2-0 Capitals lead 8:56 into the first. The Caps then built their lead to 3-0 after one when Ryan Pajimola streaked down the left wing on a 1 on 1 and put a hard shot on net that was turned away by Rundell. The rebound would go cross-ice onto the stick of a wide open Anthony Perdicaro who scored into the open side for the 3-0 Capitals lead after one. Assists on the goal went to Pajimola and Zaires with 1:36 left in the first. The Dogs didn?t quite, as they came out and chipped away in the second period. It was first Mitch MacMillan making it 3-1 Capitals as he drove the slot and took a Brett Mohler drop pass before putting a quick shot blocker side past Rawlings. Evan Witt also picked up an assist on the play 9:03 into the second. Just three minutes later it was a one goal game after Brian Kang was set up in the slot on the power play on a great pass from Chris Moulson behind the Caps net. Kang would beat a scrambling Rawlings to make it 3-2 with 12:59 gone in the second. Warren Muir also picked up an assist on the goal. Just 1:31 later the Caps bounced right back to lead by two again as Anthony Perdicaro sent Ryan Pajimola in on the breakaway. Matthew Wong (who came at the midway mark of the period to split the game with Colin Rundell) made a great poke check to stop the breakaway, but the loose puck ended up right on the tape of Chris Zaires in the slot and he made no mistake for a 4-2 Capitals lead with 5:30 left in the second. The Dogs came out in the third and made it a one goal game again early in the frame as Kevin Ross made a great pass up the middle to send Zack Mazo and Brian Kang in on a 2 on 0 breakaway. Mazo played it perfectly as he walked down the right side before throwing a cross ice pass to Kang who one-timed a well placed shot just under the bar 1:44 into the third to make it 4-3 Cowichan. Things would get heated several minutes later with a dust-up at the Capitals bench resulting in a Bulldogs power play as Alex Gellert was ejected from the game for throwing punches from the bench at Johnny Rogic on the ice. The Dogs made quick work on the resulting power play chance when Warren Muir tipped in a Kevin Ross slapper from the right point to tie the game at 4-4 7:01 into the period. The Dogs would get the eventual game winner five minutes later on a harmless looking shot from well out that was well placed by Taylor Orser, high blocker side on Rawlings from the right circle. Assists on the play went to Eric Fraser and Ethan Gardner. The Capitals would look for the equalizer in the dying minutes of the game as they went to a power play chance with just over three minutes remaining. The Dogs penalty killers came up huge to hold the lead and kill it off, with several big shot blocks.
Final shots favoured the Dogs 44-36 with Matthew Wong picking up the win after coming in at the halfway mark of the game. Chris Rawlings took the loss.
Saturday night the Nanaimo Clippers rolled into the Pound for the final game of the season. The Clippers would come out of the opening puck drop with a good shift in the Bulldog end, but after that the home team caught fire. A play on the rush to the Clipper net saw Brett Mohler dish off to Adam Hout, who in turn found Evan Witt trailing the play. Witt would walk into the slot and put a quick release top shelf on Jonathan Jobin for a 1-0 Bulldog lead 1:31 into the game. The Dogs would build their lead to 2-0 on another rush to the net where Brett Mohler gained the Clipper line and drove in on Jobin before making a quick deke at the top of the crease to put it into the open net. Assists on the play went to Ryan Corbiell and Mitch MacMillan at the 11:06 mark of the first. Late in the period the Dogs would go to a 4:00 minute power play opportunity where the first half of the minor saw them go up 3-0 after the puck was thrown on the net from the bottom of the left circle. Evan Witt would get his second of the period finding the rebound on the scramble and lifting it above a fallen Jobin. Assists on the play went to Mitch MacMillan and Brett Mohler at the 16:48 mark of the first as the Dogs lead 3-0 after one period. They didn?t stop there though, as just over two minutes into the second Zack Mazo made it 4-0 on a shorthanded breakaway as he broke the puck up at the Dogs line and raced in alone on Evan Smith (who came in to start the second period) where he scored on a slick deke move. The goal was unassisted at the 2:31 mark of the second period. Just seconds later Evan Witt would have another shorthanded breakaway chance where he looked for the hat trick but he lost the handle on the puck on his deke. At the 11:14 mark of the period, Colin Rundell would have his Junior Hockey career end as Matthew Wong came in to play the final half of the game. Rundell would get a nice send off from the crowd and showed his appreciation by waving his stick to the fans. Matthew Wong wouldn?t get the same welcome as Rundell?s goodbye, as he was greeted by a screened and seeing-eye wrist shot seconds later from the top of the point from Aaron Enns that found its way in for his first career BCHL goal to make it 3-1. Enns was moved back to play defence for the game with the Clippers losing Michael Boivin and Tyler Mah to injury the night before in Victoria. Steve Mason and Ian Thistlethwaite picked up the assists at 11:28 of the second. The rest of the period lacked a lot of action with the teams combining for only 10 shots. The score would stay 4-1 Dogs until the final minutes of the third where the Clippers went to a power play and then a two man advantage by pulling goaltender Evan Smith with over three minutes left in regulation. The move would pay off when Ronnie Smith found a rebound in front of Matthew Wong that he jammed home with 2:20 to play in the game making it 4-2. Assists on the play went to Russell Goodman and Anders Franzon. The final icing on the cake for the Dogs would come on a faceoff outside their blue line where the Clippers gambled and pulled the goalie again. Warren Muir would go forward off the draw all the way down the ice into the open net to make it 5-2 with 1:37 to play. The goal was unassisted.
