The Alberni Valley Bulldogs defeated the Coquitlam Express 4-1 on Tuesday night at the Alberni Valley Multiplex. With the win, the Bulldogs take the best of 7 series 4-3.
The series was closer than many had predicted from the outset, and the credit goes to the Express for pushing the Bulldogs to the limit, right from game 1.
A nervous 1st period produced a scoreless tie after 20 minutes, though the Express did outshoot the Bulldogs 16-10 in the frame.
In the 2nd period, the Bulldogs grabbed the lead when Braxton Buckberger notched his 2nd goal of the series to open the scoring at 3:27 of the period.
The Bulldogs would push their lead to 2-0 when Grayson Badger wired a feed from Hayden Stavroff past Majnji who had no chance. To say the Dawg pound was rumbling after that was an understatement.
As they’ve done all series, the Express were not phased by the crowd or the deficit. Nate Crema scored his 1st of the series just 59 seconds after the Badger goal to cut the lead in half. Crema took advantage of some miscommunication between Bulldogs defenceman and walk right in tucking it past Tung.
The Bulldogs would restore their two-goal lead at 17:58 as Hayden Stavroff connected for his 5th of the series to make it 3-1 Bulldogs after 40 minutes.
In the final period the Bulldogs put this one away at 4:47 when Brady McIsaac made it 4-1 when he put home a rebound off a Nicholas Beneteau shot.
Coquitlam never really got close to cutting the deficit from there, though Callum Tung did make 11 3rd period saves to preserve the win.
Tung finished the night with 36 saves on 37 shots. With the Bulldogs facing elimination in Game 6 & 7, tung stopped 78-80 shots with the season on the line, good for a .975 sv %. Playoff Callum Tung ladies and gentlemen. Tung was named the games 1st star for the 2nd straight game as well.
The Bulldogs and Chiefs are still working out the details of their conference semifinal matchup, but the Chiefs will host game 1 and 2 on Friday and Saturday before the scene shifts back to Port Alberni for Game 3 & 4 next week. Watch for full details to be announced.
