The game didn't have a lot of flow early, with the Kings having the better of the initial opportunities on net as Cole Demers made two good saves in tight, one with his left toe, the other with a poke check. The Kings would open the scoring on a pretty goal that Demers had no chance on, as Mitch Williams put a pass out of the right corner to the deep slot for Ben Thomas who one-timed it perfectly placed top corner, short-side over the glove of Demers to make it 1-0 at 5:28 of the first. The Bulldogs would counter less than a minute later making quick work on a power play opportunity as Ryan Miotto took a pass at the top of the right circle from Aaron Bohlinger and walked in and threw it on goal. It would go off a stick, and then the hand of a King defender before clanking off the crossbar and onto the goal line behind Mitch Adamyk. Josh Zary would locate it first and jam it home to make it 1-1 at 6:20 of the first. There would be no scoring in the remainder of the frame, with both Demers and Adamyk tested a couple of times but neither team was able to take the lead. Shots in the period were 11-10 Kings.
Action was tight to begin the second, with the Kings getting one good early chance where Ben Wozney was stopped on a high-hard one by Demers. Quite similary to the first, the Kings took the lead six minutes into the frame, and the Bulldogs again answered immediately. Powell River made it 2-1 when the Bulldogs misplayed a D-to-D pass back of their net, that allowed Levi Glasman to chase it down and throw it out front where it went off Demers and onto the stick of Ethan Schmunk who walked across the crease and managed to just slide it through Demers to make it 2-1 at 6:19 of the second. The Bulldogs responded seconds later, as Aaron Bohlinger stepped up to break up a play at centre, that was picked up by Evan Googins. He would attack the Kings zone with speed up the right side before putting a cross-ice pass onto the tape of Michael Hodge between the hashmarks where he wasted no time with a quick release into the top corner far-side over the glove of Adamyk to make it 2-2 at 6:34. The Bulldogs earned two power play chances later in the period, and while threatening on them, they couldn't generate enough to take the lead. The Kings went up 3-2 later in the period on a interesting scenario that saw icing signalled by the back Linesman, and the Bulldogs appear to win the race but the front Linesman waved it off. The puck would go back to the line, and immediately end up in the net as Ben Wozney put a low slapper to the far post where it was tipped in by Ryan Brushett to make it 3-2 at 10:56 of the period. The Bulldogs again earned a power play, but couldn't respond this time. The Kings went to the advantage immediately afterwards, but the Dogs did a good job to defend it to keep it 3-2 after two. Shots in the period were 12-10 Kings, for a 23-20 total in their favour after 40 minutes.
The third period was hotly contested and played at a high place with few whistles through to the back half of regulation, with the score staying 3-2 thanks to both goalies, most notably Cole Demers who made great saves in tight on Levi Glasman twice, and Ryan Brushett. The pace continued through to the late stages of the third, with neither side generating either much in the way of chances or consistent zone time. The Bulldogs would pull Demers for the extra attacker with over two minutes to play, but despite forcing the Kings into a series of icings and getting the puck around Adamyk they couldn't generate much of a good scoring chance to tie it as the Kings made the lead stand to the buzzer.
After the buzzer, a slash that I didn't see, led to a dust up between Christian Buono and Ryan Miotto. That was followed by an ugly incident at the Bulldog bench where an apparently repeatedly verbally abusive fan crossed over that line and spat on the Bulldog players leaving the ice resulting in them responding to it. Security would eventually intervene, for again what was a most unfortunate ending to what was a wildly entertaining game.
Third period shots were 9-7 Bulldogs, for a 30-29 Kings advantage. The Bulldogs went 1 for 5 on the power play while the Kings went 0 for 1.
The Bulldogs are in Duncan tomorrow night when they visit the Capitals for a 6:00 puck drop.
Hammer
____________________________________________________________
There has never been a subscription fee for this blog - and there never will be, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much. *
*As eloquently said by Gregg Drinnan of Taking Note - the best hockey/sports blog around
No comments:
Post a Comment