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Saturday, October 22, 2016

Dogs squander early lead, drop eighth straight 6-2 to Grizzlies


Tonight's Game Report is brought to you courtesy of the Best Western Plus Barclay Hotel 

The BEST WESTERN PLUS Barclay Hotel, the largest full facility hotel in Port Alberni, BC. When staying with us there is no need to give up conveniences you are used to. You can discover treasures to take home at the Alberni Harbour Quay, and then browse our onsite Cold Beer, Wine Store and liquor store or retreat to our Stamps Cafe or Pastimes Sports Bar and Grill to enjoy a snack or to watch the game on our big screen TV. Then, relax in our sauna or pool before settling in our luxurious accommodations to enjoy the vintage wine picked up earlier. That's when you will truly understand why the tranquil setting of our hotel has been called the perfect place to call home. If traveling on business, our Port Alberni Hotel boasts over 4500 square feet of meeting space in four rooms that are perfect for small conventions, banquets, parties, meetings and weddings. AV equipment and catering are also available.




While the Grizzlies attacked the Dogs net in the opening 20 seconds, it was 1-0 Bulldogs just 20 seconds later as Cayden Kraus gained the Grizzlies line up the right wing and set up Jordan Sandhu in the slot. His shot would miss the net, but Kraus one-timed the end board bounce up and over Matt Galajda. Tristan Bukovec also drew an assist at 41 seconds of the first. It was 2-0 seconds later when Connor Welsh set up Trevor Cosgrove at the right point. He put a perfect cross-ice feed to the back post for Ryan Steele, who steered it home into the open side at 1:05 of the first. The Bulldogs drew a power play later in the period, and looked to go up 3-0 when Trevor Cosgrove deflected a backdoor pass on net that went off both feed of Galajda and sat on the line before being cleared. Tristan Bukovec would be partially tripped by Jake Stevens into the flailing Galajda. The back Referee would whistle Bukovec for interference however, and while the Dogs killed the subsequent Grizzlies power play they got on the board seconds later when Carson Schamerhorn made a great initial save on an end-board bounce to the slot, only to have Nick Guiney out-fight the defense to lift the loose puck home. Justin Michaelian and Jake Stevens drew the assists at 8:43 of the first. Just over a minute later it was a tie game as the Dogs turned the puck over at centre and got caught going the wrong way as Marty Westhaver stole it and put a perfect pass onto the tape of Sage Englund in alone where he scored on a nice forehand deke to make it 2-2 at 9:56 of the first. Shots were 10-9 Grizzlies.

The start to the second was no where near the early minutes of the first, with a plethora of whistles slowing the pace of the game through the first four minutes. The Grizzlies would take their first lead of the game after two huge back to back Schamerhorn saves, first on Keyvan Mokhtari and Cole Pickup on breakaways, but the Dogs still failed to up their pace of play as the Grizzlies caught them on a change and scored on an odd-man rush set up by Matt Galajda who fed it up ice for Justin Michaelian. He would send Mokhtari in on net again, where Schamerhorn made the save again, but still couldn't get enough help at Mokhtari poked it through him and over the line to make it 3-2 at 4:26 of the second. The Grizzlies went up 4-2 three minutes later when they connected on the power play, with a nice set up to the slot being settled down by Mokhtari and then fired home top corner, far-side over the glove of Schamerhorn. Assists on the play went to Jake Stevens and Cody Van Lierop at 7:52 of the second. Less than a minute later the Grizzlies further opened it up, as Carson Schamerhorn made a good initial save on a deflected point shot, and a stellar follow up save on the rebound, but he couldn't make a third or get help from his defense in the crease as Lucas Clark slid it home on the scramble to make it 5-2 at 8:29 of the second. The Grizzlies would be awarded a four minute power play in short order, with Connor Welsh being whistled for cutting Nick Guiney. Someone certainly had their stick up and caught him, but it didn't look like Welsh. The Bulldogs came up with a solid kill through the first 3:30 of the penalty, before drawing a penalty of their own. They would then draw another call for goalie interference, resulting in a 5 on 3 advantage of 39 seconds in duration. They would generate a couple chances on it, but Matt Galajda was good to preserve the three goal lead as the period time ran out. Shots in the second favoured Victoria 22-10, for a 40 minute total of 32-19.

The Bulldogs failed in large part to threaten on their power play to start the third, despite drawing another penalty to earn an 11 second 5 on 3 as the Grizzlies just had the extra intensity to win any of the battles and the Grizzlies made it look too easy. Time would go fast throughout the period, with the Bulldogs being unable to push back and muster any sort of sustained attack through the midway point of the period to stage a comeback. They earned  a power play to try and make a game of it with just under eight minutes to play, but turned the puck over through centre and in their own zone close to half a dozen times in a minute before taking a penalty. The Dogs would earn another power play with just under four minutes to play, drawn by Jordan Sandhu, as he came off the bench and had an extra drive to his stride that was lacking from the most of his teammates. He would drive the zone and fight it behind the net before winning another battle and using his feet to try and walk out front where he was hooked. The Dogs would gamble and pull their goalie to make it a 6 on 4,  and had a couple of looks but couldn't find the net before Keyvan Mokhtari took a Cole Pickup pass at the Victoria line before hitting the empty net from centre for the 6-2 final score.

Shots in the third favoured the Grizzlies 10-8 for a game total of 42-27 with Carson Schamerhorn taking the loss while Matt Galajda earned the win. The Dogs went 0 for 9 on the power play while the Grizzlies went 1 for 8.

The Dogs are next in action Saturday at home when they host the Powell River Kings.

Hammer

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