Bulldogs drop fourth straight, 5-2 to Chiefs

The game started in as close to the weirdest way as possible, resulting in a 1-0 lead as a Mitchel Deelstra dump in was blocked at the Chilliwack line on the left side. Jackson Munro found the loose puck, and slapped it down the left wing. Kolby Thornton would leave the Chiefs net and stop the dump in for his defence and retreat to his crease. As he was in the process of doing so, Xavier Henry picked up the dump in, proceeded to mishandle the puck, and inadvertenly slide it into the left heel of Thornton, and over the goal line. Jackson Munro was credited with it as the last Bulldog to touch the puck, at 19 seconds of period one. As the minutes wore on, the Chiefs carried more and more of the play, with Jackson Glassford coming up with a plethora of solid saves from all areas to protect the lead. It would take an almost equally weird one to tie the game, as a dump in by the Chiefs down the left wing from centre ice appeared to hit a Linesman before going skyward and cross-ice to the slot to result in a 2 on 1 rush that saw Ethan Bowen put a cross-ice pass onto the tape of Tyler Christall who made no mistake in one-timing it high over a desperation dive by Jackson Glassford to make it 1-1 at 12:59 of period one. Nikita Nesterenko was awarded the second assist, but it appeared like it should've been given to Nathan Kelly. The Chiefs earned a power play on the next shift, and the Bulldogs killed it off, with Glassford being lights out to keep it 1-1 after 20 minutes. Shots in the first were 24-8 Chiefs.

The Chiefs again came out with an edge in the play to open the second in the opening minutes, but the Bulldogs pushed back to create a couple of chances, and some momentum to even the game. They would take a 2-1 lead just short of seven minutes into the period when Jackson Munro retrieved a dump in with purpose in the far corner of the Bulldog zone, and put a head-man pass up the left wing for Caige Sterzer. He put a hard spinning backhand rink-wide through the Bulldogs zone to the right side of centre ice, where Austin Spiridakis won a stick battle to get possession in full flight up the right wing, where he walked into the faceoff circle and put a quick release long-side past the blocker of Thornton to make it 2-1 Bulldogs at 6:41 of the second. The Bulldogs had a couple promising rushes and pucks around the net in the ensuing minutes, but couldn't pad their lead. They would end up back in the penalty box a few minutes later, with Jackson Glassford again making a  fantastic save with his right toe as he  was being slid into by a Chief  forward to rob Garrett Valk on the goal line. The Chiefs would connect on the power play, with Cooper Moore  putting a long range wrister on net from the left point that somehow beat all the traffic to sneak long-side under the glove of Glassford to make it 2-2 at 12:53 of the  second to make it 2-2 after period two. Shots in the frame were 15-6 Chilliwack for a 39-14 Chiefs advantage after 40 minutes.

The Bulldogs came out inspired to start the third period, and drew a penalty on the first shift. They couldn't make the power play count though, as the Chiefs killed it off. The Bulldogs kept pressing over the opening minutes of the period, and had a couple great chances as a result, but couldn't find the go-ahead marker. The most notable  chance saw Caige Sterzer skate in alone,  but Thornton made a good save with his right toe to keep it out. The Bulldogs kept pushing, but were penalized while in the attacking zone. The Chiefs made them pay just seconds into the power play, as a rink-wide set up saw Nikita Nesterenko put a perfect pass through the seam to the left faceoff dot where Peter Reynolds made no mistake in going roof, short-side over the blocker of Glassford to make it 3-2 at 7:14 of the third, with Ethan Bowen also assisting. The Bulldogs would earn another power play with eight and a half minutes to play, but again couldn't make it count to tie the game. Less than two minutes later the Chiefs padded their lead, as after a continuous  sequence of the teams fighting a bouncing puck back and forth between the blue lines finally ended with Cooper Moore walking into the deep slot where he beat Glassford with a wrist shot blocker side to make it 4-2 at 15:19 of the third, with Jake Veri drawing the lone assist. Seconds later, the Bulldog power play was again given an opportunity to get back in it and make it a  one-goal game despite showing an increased  urgency of putting the puck on net and creating several  scrambles. The Chiefs would rub some further salt in the wound to complete the scoring just 46 seconds after the power play elapsed, as Kyle Penney walked off the wall into the top of the right circle where he put a quick release high, short-side over the glove of Glassford to make it 5-2 at 18:46 of the third, with Ethan Bowen and Xavier Henry assisting.

Third period shots were 17-10 Bulldogs, for a game total of 49-33 Chiefs. Jackson Glassford earned 3rd star honours while taking the loss, while Kolby Thornton earned the win. The Bulldogs went 0 for 4 on the power play while the Chiefs went 2 for 4.

Hammer

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