The Bulldogs started the game with an extra jump in their step, drawing an early power play and threatening around the Vees net through the first four minutes having a couple Grade A chances that Nolan Hildebrand kept out, with some help from his defence as a cross-ice set up looked to be headed dead centre on an empty net but Nicky Leivermann kept it out. The Vees would push back and get a couple great chances of their own after a power play, the most notable being a 2 on 0 rush that saw John Hawthorne make a highlight reel save on a cross-ice set up for Ryan Sandelin that he just got his right toe on to keep it scoreless. The Bulldogs would take a 1-0 lead on a gorgeous end to end rush that saw Sami Pharaon take a hit and make a strong play to force the puck up the right wing for Pearce Messer. He would put a quick feed at centre ice to Tyler Vanuden, who gained the Penticton line and made a pretty stickhandling move to make a Defender look silly to create a 2 on 1 rush where he put a picture perfect cross-ice pass onto the tape of Messer who one-timed it into the open side before Hildebrand could get across to make it 1-0 at 15:00 of the first. The Bulldogs had a great chance to build their lead a minute later on a terrible giveaway up the middle that saw Brad Ong pick off a pass and skate in alone where Hildebrand stood tall to come up with a big glove save. The Vees would get the equalizer late in the period on a pass back to the right point by Dakota Boutin that was one-timed on goal by Kenny Johnson, where it was deflected in by Grant Cruikshank to make it 1-1 at 18:22 of the first. Shots in the period were 13-10 Bulldogs.
The first four minutes of the second was all Penticton, with John Hawthorne coming up with four or five good saves in tight to keep it tied up. The Vees continued to push, and took their first lead of the game seven minutes into the period when Dakota Boutin found a loose puck behind the Dogs net after a cross-crease chance had missed. He would tuck it in on a wrap around before Hawthorne could recover, to make it 2-1 at 7:43 of the second with assists going to Grant Cruikshank and Cassidy Bowes. The Vees continued to push, and Hawthorne came up with a big left toe save on Jared Nash at the top of the crease to keep it a one-goal game. Seconds later, it was 2-2 as Tyler Vanuden carried the puck with speed up the left wing and behind the Vees net to the right corner, where James Orban found it. He would win a series of battles to keep possession, before walking up the right wing wall where he finally threw it on net and beat a screened Hildebrand to make it 2-2 at 9:07 of the second. The Vees would take their lead right back, once again scoring from the paint as John Hawthorne appeared to have it covered for a second before it slid loose where it was poked home from the goal line by Lucas Sillinger to make it 3-2 at 10:13 of the period with Cassidy Bowes drawing the lone assist. The Bulldogs drew a power play a minute later, and threatened to tie it, with Hildebrand making a big save with his right toe on a backdoor set up for Christian Simeone. The Vees would take a two goal lead a minute later, once again swarming around the Dogs net and scoring from the paint as Taylor Ward kicked the puck to the goal line where it was tapped in by Massimo Rizzo to make it 4-2 at 14:36 with an assist also going to Jared Nash. Shots in the period were 18-5 Vees, for a two period total in their favour of 28-18.
The Dogs put on a good push to start the third, but the Vees did a good job to block a handful of shots early to protect their net. The Bulldogs earned a power play with eight minutes to go to try and make it a one-goal game, but instead it was a three-goal spread as less than 20 seconds into the power play the Vees scored while shorthanded as Lucas Sillinger carried the puck over the Dogs line up the left wing and in on goal where he flipped a shot at the net that was heading wide, but it hit a Bulldog defender's stick to sneak inside the far post to make it 5-2 at 6:44 of the third, un-assisted. There would be no scoring the rest of the way as the Vees didn't give the Dogs much.
Third period shots were 13-7 Vees, for a game total in their favour of 41-25, with John Hawthorne taking the loss while Nolan Hildebrand earned the win. The Dogs went 0 for 5 on the power play while the Vees went 0 for 2 while scoring once while shorthanded.
With the loss, the Bulldogs losing streak has hit three and their winless streak has hit four. They are next in action tomorrow afternoon when they host the Surrey Eagles.
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