Dogs visit Clippers tonight looking to even series

It's right back at it tonight at the Frank Crane Arena for Game 2 of this Best-of-Seven affair as the Bulldogs visit the Clippers looking to even the series and take home ice advantage back to the Dog Pound after taking one on the chin last night to the tune of 6-1.

Just reiterating what I said yesterday - this time of year is all about managing the highs and the lows and keeping an even keel, because win, lose or draw you have to find a way to win a game the next day. A very tough start last night for the Bulldogs on a bad-luck banker making it 1-0 less than a minute in. I was quite impressed with how they bounced back and took the play to the Clippers in pretty dominant fashion over the next 10 plus minutes, almost running them out of the rink. To the Clippers credit, they bent but they didn't break, and all of a sudden it was another odd man rush and a 2-0 game against the flow of play. A very tough pill for the Dogs to swallow, just like killing two straight penalties to end the first and start the second, only to see the Clippers score a second later to go up 3-0. A poor reaction by the Dogs to that situation as they got caught stepping up at the line and it's 4-0 and game over just 16 seconds later.

In the end, that's all yesterday and all that matters is today and what the Dogs can do tonight to try an even the series and head home stealing home ice advantage. They need to obviously not find themselves in an early hole, and they need to pick their spots and not give up the odd-man rushes that the Clippers are so deadly on and killed them with. The Dogs need to remember it's a series - last year they dropped the opener on the road in disheartening fashion to the Grizzlies in Victoria. They bounced back the next night to even the series, returned home and won both their games at the Pound and all of a sudden led the series 3-1.

Get all the action on Pacific Chevrolet Bulldogs Hockey on 93.3 The Peak FM live from the Frank Crane Arena starting with the pregame show at 6:45 with the puck drop to follow at 7:00 with myself, Bruce MacDonald and Dan Tisserand providing the play-by-play, colour/analysis and team and player statistics.

 

If you aren't in radio listening range of 93.3 The Peak FM you can listen/watch the game by:

Listening Live on your computer: www.933thepeak.com
Listening Live on your SmartPhone : www.tunein.com/mobile/
Watching Live on your computer/SmartPhone www.fasthockey.com

Tonight's 2nd Intermission guest is former Bulldog Connor Varley, winner of the team's Top Defenceman Award his only season here in 2010-2011. Connor is currently in his Junior season with the NCAA's Penn State Nittany Lions. 

Hammer