The Bulldogs came out - pardon the pun - flying, against the Eagles, as they were in a different gear early in the contest. They peppered Thomas Scarfone in the Surrey net, who was sharp to keep it scoreless through the midway point of the period, with the Bulldogs having an 11-3 edge in shots through the first ten minutes. The second ten minutes, the script was flipped, as the Eagles carried the play and had several great opportunities on Luke Pearson, but he was fantastic to preserve the scoreless tie to the buzzer, with two notable saves on a breakaway for Gabe Schovanek that was followed by a save on a Hudson Schandor one-timer chance from the hashmarks. Shots in the period were15-14 Eagles.
Neither team was especially crisp through the opening five minutes of the second, with the Eagles having a slight edge in the play. The play continued to be somewhat scrambled, with the Eagles earning the first power play of the game eight minutes into the period. They weren't able to generate much on it, with the Bulldogs effectively killing it off. The deadlock was finally broken by Jacob Bosse in the back half of the frame, as Caige Sterzer got in on the forecheck and threw a hit to force an errant puck up the wall to the right point. Cam Newson was there to keep it it, banking it down the boards for Jacob Bosse. He would walk laterally off the wall across the top of the circle to the slot where he spun and fired a perfectly placed wrist shot far side over the blocker of Scarfone to make it 1-0 Bulldogs at 12:14 of the second. The Bulldogs pushed for more later in the period, but Scarfone made a great glove save on Jackson Munro to keep it 1-0. The Eagles would push for the equalizer in the final minutes of the period, but Pearson made a couple great saves in tight to keep it 1-0 into the third. Shots in the period were 11-8 Eagles, for a two-period total in their favour of 26-22.
The third period began with the Eagles pushing early, and the Bulldogs appearing flat and behind the play. They struggled to get the puck out of their zone, or into the Eagles end of things for any extended period. It would end up in the Eagles tying the game, as a net drive up the right wing and in on net by JJ Fecteau that was stopped by Pearson, but a cross-ice rebound to the slot was one-timed home into an empty net by Buddy Johnson to make it 1-1 at 2:59 of the third. The Eagles kept pushing, and had a handful of great chances but couldn't get the go-ahead marker. The Bulldogs then earned back to back power plays, but the Eagles gave them absolutely nothing. They eventually earned a powerplay of their own, and capitalized on it with a gorgeous cross-ice set up that saw Brett Bliss take a cross-ice pass from Brendan Kim before putting another pass across the seam into the right circle where Christophe Tellier roofed it to make it 2-1 Eagles with 7:12 to play in the third. Less than a minute later, the Bulldogs immediately answered to tie it up as Jacob Bosse chased down a loose puck and walked out right side and put it right to the doorstep where he one-timed it past the blocker of Scarfone to make it 2-2 at 13:16 of the third. The Eagles again pressed late to win it, but Pearson made a great shoulder save in tight to keep it tied, before Stephen Castagna was tripped up in the final minute of regulation to put the Bulldogs to the power play. They were able to generate a couple of chances, but couldn't win it before the buzzer.
Third period shots were 19-8 Eagles, for a 45-30 advantage into overtime. Overtime would see no scoring, with the Bulldogs out shooting Surrey 2-0, for a game total of 45-32 Eagles headed to the shootout.
The Eagles went first and went up 1-0 on a Gabe Schovanek goal, that was immediately answered by Jacob Bosse with a blocker-side wrist shot. Both second shooters failed to find the target, before Surrey went up 2-1 on a deke in tight by Brandon Santa Juana. Mitchel Deelstra would need to score to keep the game going, and he made no mistake going high blocker from in tight. Luke Pearson would then come up with a save on Wyatt Schlaht to give the Bulldogs a chance to win it, and one opportunity was enough as Ryan Doolin went right up the middle and made a nice fake to get Scarfone down to lift a backhand high blocker side for the game winner and the 3-2 final.
Luke Pearson earned 1st star honours with the win, while Thomas Scarfone took the loss while earning 2nd star honours. The Bulldogs went 0 for 3 on the power play, while the Eagles went 1 for 2.
With the win, the Bulldogs head into 2020 on a three game winning streak, and a five game road winning streak. They next see action January 3rd when they host the Powell River Kings.
Have a fantastic break, a great Christmas season, and see you in the New Year!
Hammer
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