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Saturday, December 14, 2019

Chiefs top Bulldogs 6-4 in a wild one



The Teddy Bears flew on the first shift, as the Bulldogs came out inspired and retreived a rebound after a first save by Mathieu Caron. Jimmy Rayhill would knock it down to Matthew Grouchy, who set up Mitchel Deelstra in the slot, who dished off to the left faceoff circle for Ryan Doolin, who beat Caron with a quick release, low-short side to send the Bears onto the ice at 33 seconds of the first period. The Bulldogs pushed on the following shifts after the delay for the cleanup, but couldn't pad their lead. Soon afterwards, the Chiefs went to the man advantage. The Bulldogs got to the final two seconds of the kill, but the Chiefs cashed in to tie the game with a pretty cross-ice pass from Nikita Nesterenko onto the tape of Brett Rylance in the right circle where he beat Luke Pearson with a one-timer, short-side to make it 1-1. Cooper Moore also assisted at 7:20. The Chiefs took momentum from the goal, and had a couple dangerous looks around the Bulldog net, but couldn't beat Pearson to take the lead. Late in the period, the Bulldogs earned a power play chance of their own and immediately connected on it as Matthew Grouchy won the opening draw back to Mitchel Deelstra. He put a cross-ice pass into the right circle for Ryan Doolin, who slid it back to the right point for Tim Gould. He simply put a low wrist shot on net, where Caige Sterzer deflected it home to make it 2-1 at 15:15 of the first. The Bulldogs earned a second power play soon afterwards, but couldn't capitalize on it, with Mathieu Caron making a great save on a set up to the slot for Dawson Tritt to keep it 2-1. The Bulldogs earned another power play with just three seconds remaining in the period that carried over to start the second. Shots in the frame were 11-10 Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs were unable to get anything going on the power play, with the Chiefs responding on the shift after the kill with a long sequence in the Bulldogs zone, but were unable to generate anything on net. The Bulldogs then responded in kind, and hemmed the Chiefs in to generate momentum. The Bulldogs had a glorious chance to pad their lead a few minutes later, but Mitchel Deelstra couldn't convert on a breakaway as it stayed 2-1 into the back half of the period. Immediately prior to the media time out, the Chiefs had a Grade A chance of their own as Nikita Nesterenko walked in on net, but he couldn't pull the trigger or tuck it in from below the goal line on a mad scramble. The Chiefs generated some great chances in tight on Pearson in the following minutes, with Kyle Penny being stopped in tight, along with Dawson Good on a rebound on the rush. The Bulldogs pushed back, and earned a power play of their own, but the Chiefs instead tied the game after a couple battles won in the zone. Brett Rylance would gain the Bulldogs zone up the right wing, before putting a slow pass laterally back to the middle. Arlo Merritt would jump off the bench and skate into it and in alone on Pearson where he put a perfect finish top corner, far-side over the blocker and under the bar to make it 2-2 at 17:05 of the second. Tempers became very high in the final minutes of the period, with a largely one-man-fight between Clark Nelson and Austin Spiridakis that saw Spiridakis be unable to get his gloves off. In the next sequence, Olivier Fizet was felled by a blindside shot to the head entering the Chiefs zone that either went undetected or deemed unworthy of a penalty. The Chiefs attacked the Bulldog net on the rush, but Pearson again was fantastic to keep it tied heading to the room with a big stop on the doorstep. Shots in the period were 21-6 Chiefs, for a 31-17 total in their favour after 40 minutes.

The Chiefs  took their first lead of the game just 3:42 into the third period when the Bulldogs turned the puck over at the Chilliwack line, and a quick pass saw Nikita Nesterenko step on the gas and drive over the Bulldog line where he made a  defender miss before walking in alone to the right side where he snapped a shot past the blocker of Pearson to make it 3-2  Chiefs, unassisted. The Bulldogs had a fantastic chance to answer seconds later, but Caron got his glove down on the goal line to make a goal line save to keep it 3-2. Four minutes later, the Bulldogs found the equalizer seconds after a power play chance had elapsed  as Stephen Castagna chased down a puck behind the Chief net  and dished off to  Ryan Doolin behind the goal line and drove  the front of the net  where he one-timed the Doolin pass off a defender's stick and in past Caron to make it 3-3 at 7:10 of the third. The Chiefs again went ahead with under seven minutes  to  play  as a gorgeous slap pass to  the side of the net by Jack Agnew was deflected home  top corner, short-side off the bar and in past Pearson by Arlo Merritt to  make it 4-3, with Brett Rylance also assisting at 13:09 of the third. The Bulldogs responded almost instantly to tie the game, as Jacob Bosse went forward off a draw in the Chiefs end  and fought it to the net where he beat Caron short-side at 13:46 to tie it at 4-4. The Bulldogs couldn't find the go-ahead goal before the Chiefs surged ahead  again on a pass to the right point by Tommy Lyons that was one-timed off the post and in by Brody Gagno short-side on Pearson to make it 5-4 at  18:34 with Nikita Nesterenko also drawing an assist. The Bulldogs would pull their goalie for the extra attacker and a draw in the Chiefs end, but were unable to generate a chance after the winning the draw with a cross-ice pass in the zone picked off up the middle by Brett Rylance who won the race all the way to the Bulldog net to seal the deal, unassisted with 1:05 to play for the 6-4 final score.

Third period shots favoured the Chiefs 13-11 for a total of 44-28 Chiefs with Mathieu Caron earning the win while Luke Pearson took the loss. The Bulldogs went 1 for 6  on the power play, while the Chiefs went 1 for 2 while also scoring once while shorthanded.

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