The Alberni Valley Bulldogs answered the bell with a 3-2 OT on Wednesday night at the Dawg Pound. The Surrey Eagles now lead the best of 7 series 2-1 in advance of tonight’s Game 4. Puck drop is set for 7pm.
Hayden Stavroff scored twice including the OT winner at 14:16 of the extra-session. Stavroff now leads all BCHL goal scorers with 10 playoff markers.
Trailing 2-0 in the series there was little to no margin for error and the Bulldogs once again found themselves in tightly contested contest against a very good team. Twice the Bulldogs grabbed a lead, only to watch the Eagles rally back with a pair of power play goals. Surrey finished the night 2 for 4 with the man-advantage while the Bulldogs were 1 for 5.
Jacob Terpstra had the other goal for the Bulldogs as he wired home a pretty feed from Matt Kursonis on the power play.
Callum Tung was named the games first star as he made 54 saves, a couple of them in spectacular fashion to literally save the day for the Bulldogs in OT. Tung is now 9-5 in the post season with a 1.98 GAA and a .943 save %.
After Ajeet Gundarah left the game in the 1st period, Jaiden Sharma came in and took over the Surrey crease and made 34 saves on 36 shots. Gundarah didn’t even return to the Surrey bench for the balance of the game, so one would think Sharma will get the nod in Game 4 tonight. Sharma leads all BCHL goaltenders with a .956 save % in 8 games played.
As the series hits tonight’s crucial Game 4, it’s apparent that there isn’t much to give between these clubs. Three games in, and the margin of difference is so minimal as all 3 games have been decided by a single goal, and two have gone to overtime.
The Bulldogs have now won 4 straight home-ice games against the Eagles at the Dawg Pound, dating back to last year’s series, while the Eagles are 5-1 at the South Surrey Arena. The lone loss game in Game 7 last year.
The fans were incredible last night as the vast majority wore red and were loud all night long. More of the same, and then some will be required tonight as the Bulldogs hope to even the series heading to Surrey for Game 5 on Saturday evening.
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