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.
The Bulldogs again for off to a solid start, running up a 6-0 lead in shots through the first five minutes of the game with a series of good containment shifts in the Prince George zone. The Spruce Kings would push back to get their legs going near the midway mark of the period, with Tavin Grant being solid to keep it 0-0 through the midway mark of the period. The Dogs would come close to opening the scoring soon aferwards, with Trevor Cosgrove putting a shot from the slot off the post. Neither team would find the net before the end of the frame, with the Dogs out shooting the Spruce Kings 14-5.
The Dogs showed no signs of letting up to start the second, and continued to push to earn a power play just short of four minutes into the period. It took but three seconds for them to connect on it, as Ryan Steele won the draw onto the tape of Alex MacDonald who eluded a defender to walk in alone and deke out Grant to tuck it inside the far-post to make it 1-0 at 3:55 of the second. It was 2-0 two minutes later on the rush, as Kyle Kaufmann fired a shot on net from the right side that Grant kicked out, but onto the tape of Affiliate Player Statton Pickett. He would get a rebound on net that was stopped, but Trevor Cosgrove was there to slam the second rebound home to make it 2-0 at 5:55 of the second. As the period wore on, the Dogs had at least a half a dozen glorious chances to build their lead - Alex MacDonald was robbed by Grant from the hashmarks on a great three way passing play, and numerous bounces around the net failed to find the back of it. The Spruce Kings would hang around, and make it a 2-1 game with just under four minutes to play in the period on an odd goal that saw a puck from behind the goal line end up squeaking through Claeys and sitting on the goal line with no one able to find it before Parker Colley drove the net and dove to poke it home to make it 2-1, with assists to Travis Schneider and Hunter Luhmann at 15:13 of the second. The Dogs would respond seconds later with a great chance to re-establish their two goal lead, but Grant came up with a breakaway save on Tristan Bukovec to keep it a one-goal game. Before the period was out the Dogs would make it 3-1, on a good defensive play by Darren Rizzolo to break up a rush in the Dogs end. Jake Witkowski would rim the loose puck behind the net for Paul Savage, who put a perfect pass onto the tape of a streaking Cayden Kraus at centre, who walked in on a partial breakaway down the left wing where he snapped a shot long-side low off the glove of Grant and in at 18:24 of the second. The Dogs out shot the Sprucies 14-6 in the period for a 28-11 advantage after 40 minutes.
The third period once again saw the Dogs come out with a good jump early, with Alex MacDonald hitting the post at one end after Chong Lee had hit the bar on the power play at the other end. The period was fairly flat, and the Bulldog fans were left fairly unimpressed and equally vocal by a series of what - from the Bulldog perspective looked like obviously missed calls seemed to end up in the Dogs ending up in the penalty box on the next play. The period continued on, and the penalties continued back and forth, with most if not all of the flow gone from the game and the energy gone from the building. A very odd occurrence played out after the midway point of the period as Cayden Kraus was high-sticked by Connor Russell resulting in a a penalty. Not so fast though, as earlier in the play Hunter Luhmann took a run at Kraus at the Spruce Kings bench after he had dumped the puck into the zone, resulting in Luhmann going down with contact from Kraus defending himself. A Linesman would rule it was high sticking against Kraus - although I thought he might have hit the helmet of Kraus. In the end, the Dogs went from being on the power play, to killing a penalty. They would indeed kill it, with Brody Claeys making a huge goal line save on a rebound off a deflected by by Ben Poisson to preserve the two goal lead. The Dogs were again penalized with three minutes and change to play, but again killed it to protect their lead. The Spruce Kings would pull their goalie for the extra attacker with two minutes to go, but the Dogs held them off until the final 10 seconds when they sealed it into an empty net when Trevor Cosgrove found the middle of the empty net on a 200 footer off a blocked shot from the far corner of the Dogs zone at 19:50 for the 4-1 final un-assisted.
Third period shots favoured the Spruce Kings 10-5 for a game total in the Dogs favour of 33-21 with Brody Claeys picking up the win while Tavin Grant earned third star honours with the loss. The Dogs went 1 for 5 on the power play while the Spruce Kings went 0 for 5.
The Dogs are next in action Tuesday night in Powell River.
Hammer
No comments:
Post a Comment