The start was fairly energetic both ways, with the Kings having a slight edge in the play. The Bulldogs would be penalized near the four minute mark, but successfully killed the advantage off without giving up much in the way of scoring chances. The Kings would open the scoring with a quick strike on the transition from defence to offence, as they exited their zone and in a matter of seconds beat the Bulldogs in numbers to their zone, as a quick 2 on 1 turned into a breakaway with Levi Glasman being sent in alone from the hashmarks where he beat Pearson with a deke to the backhand to make it 1-0 at 6:59, with assists to Rowan Miller and Davis Pennington. Before you could blink, it was 2-0 as off the centre ice face off two quick passes caught the Bulldogs a step behind, with another cross-ice pass at the hashmarks sending Dawson McKAy in alone, where he went high to the backhand in tight over the blocker of Pearson to make it 2-0 at 7:08, with Christian Buono also assisting. The Bulldogs responded well to the quick 2-0 hole, but couldn't get on the board before taking another penalty. They again successfully killed it, before earning a power play of their own. It didn't generate much in the way of opportunities or momentum though, as the Kings killed it off to protect their lead into period two.
Shots in the first were 10-4 Kings.
The Bulldogs had an obvious jump to their step as the second began, and would quickly go to a power play opportunity that they would cash in on in the late seconds of it as Tommy Bannister kept the puck in at the Powell River line where it bounced to Ethan Jones. He would make one man miss before putting a perfect cross-ice pass to a streaking Tommy Bannister, who lifted it home past the pad Matteo Paler-Chow at 4:12 of the second for his first career goal to make it a 2-1 game. The Bulldogs would attack hard for the equalizer and earned a power play on the following whistle. Despite great pressure in the zone, they couldn't find the net. The Kings would push back later in the period, with Luke Pearson making a couple solid saves to keep it a one-goal game. A tough missed call made it a 3-1 game in the back-half of the period, as Pearson made a stick save and deflected the puck over the glass and into the netting. None of the four officials detected it, despite Pearson signalling that the puck went out. Play would continue, and the Kings would make it 3-1 as Rowan Miller threw a puck on net that beat a screened Pearson low at 12:26 of the period, with assists to Jacob Paler-Chow and Ian Kern. The Bulldogs appeared to earn the benefit of a similar no-whistle a few minutes later as it was high-sticked by Tim Gould, and then subsequently touched by Grayson Valente but play continued. The Bulldogs would push in the attacking zone, with Tim Gould putting a shot toward the net from the right point that hit a King defender and went on goal where Paler-Chow reacted to make a great save, but he couldn't control the rebound as it went cross-ice where Tyler Kostelecky lifted it home for his first career goal to make it 3-2 at 15:54 of the second to complete the scoring for the period
Shots were 14-9 Kings, for a 24-13 advantage after 40 minutes.
The third period saw the Bulldogs with a good push early and several opportunities around the net in search of the equalizer, but the Kings would once again restore their two-goal cushion just over seven minutes into the frame when a failed clearing attempt resulted in PJ Garrett throwing a high hard one at the net where Dawson McKay deflected it high over Pearson from in tight to make it 4-2 at 7:24 of the third, with Christian Buono again drawing a second assist on the play. The Bulldogs once again didn't deflate after falling down by two, as they created a couple good chances, including an in-alone feed for Ryan Doolin that saw him ring one off the cross bar but stay out. The Dogs continued to push, but got caught and fell into a 5-2 hole on a three-on-three rush that saw no one pick up Hunter McCoy as he took a pass from Levi Glasman across the Dogs line where he walked in to the left circle where he snapped a quick release far-side high over the glove of Pearson to make it 5-2 at 11:53 of the third, with Jack Long also assisting. The Bulldogs would get one back on the power play with under two minutes to play as Hayden Hurst went D-to-D across the Kings line for Moe Acee at the left point, where he put a perfectly placed - and weighted pass - onto the tape of Mitchel Deelstra in the right circle where he blew a one-timer through Paler-Chow to trim the gap to 5-3 at 18:18 of the third. The comeback came no closer, with PJ Garrett hitting the empty net, unassisted at 19:04 to make it a 6-3 final.
Shots in the third were 13-11 Bulldogs, for a game total of 35-26 Kings with Luke Pearson and Matteo Paler-Chow being the goalies of record. The Bulldogs went 2 for 4 on the power play, with the Kings going 0 for 4.
The two teams go at it again tomorrow night, a 5:00pm puck drop.
Hammer
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