The game was crisp from the outset, with the Bulldogs a slight edge in the play and chances early. They would take a 1-0 lead on a pretty end to end set up that saw Tim Gould throw a hit in the Bulldog zone to knock the puck free. Jackson Doucet would pick it up and bring it behind the net, before putting a perfect bank-pass up the right wing at centre to Stephen Castagna behind the Express defence where he skated in alone and beat Jack Watson with a quick release short-side inside the post at 4:48 of the first. The Express would respond to tie it up on a fortunate bounce as a puck thrown at the net appeared to not get there and hit traffic before bouncing across the slot to the far post where Ryan Strange slapped it into the open side. Assists on the play went to Adam Trotman and Cooper Connell at 10:50 of the first. The Express would take the lead six minutes later, on both a defensive breakdown and an odd play behind the Bulldog net as the Referee was caught in the middle of the play and hit into the end boards while a Bulldog behind the net was sandwiched behind the net without the puck. That allowed Cooper Connell to walk to the net front untouched, where he walked around Luke Pearson and tucked it inside the far post to make it 2-1 at 16:50 of the first. The Bulldogs earned a power play on the goal, and tested Watson but couldn't convert on the chance as it stayed 2-1 Express after one, with the shots being 14-7 Coquitlam.
The Bulldogs pushed early in the second, and earned a power play chance that they again threatened on with a couple good looks, and in fact scored but had the goal waved off as it appeared Josh Zary's stick was high when he bunted in a mid-air rebound. Almost immediately, the Express went up 3-1 on a cross-ice pass through the slot to the right side that was one-timed under a sliding Pearson by Danny Pearson from Nicholas Carabin at 4:31 of the second. Three minutes later, after several near-misses it was 4-1 as another in-alone chance on a cross-ice set up saw Massimo Rizzo walk in on net and finish it past the glove of Pearson, with Connor Gregga and Danny Pearson assisting at 7:50 of the second. Exactly a minute later, it was 5-1 as another breakdown in the zone saw an extended 2 on 1 in the slot and a cross-ice pass from Greg Lapointe finished into an open net by Joshua Wildauer, with Cooper Connell also drawing an assist. Three minutes later, the Bulldogs battled back to get within three goals as after a long sequence defending in their zone, they raced up ice on a 2 on 1 rush that saw Dawson Tritt make a perfect cross-ice pass to a streaking Austin Spiridakis who finished it into the open side to make it 5-2 at 11:52 of the second. The Bulldogs killed off an Express power play following it, and tried to mount a push but fell into a further hole on a play that appeared offside as Bradley Ong took a pass from Tyler Schleppe and walked in alone down the right side where he beat Pearson short-side inside the post to make it 6-2 at 15:47 of the period, with an assist also going to Drew Cooper. Shots in the period were 14-11 Coquitlam, for a 28-18 edge after two periods.
The Bulldogs had a minute of power play time to start the third, and again had a couple pucks on net but couldn't beat Watson. Just a minute later it was 7-2 as Joshua Wildauer was set up in the slot where he ripped it past the glove of Pearson for his second of the night, at 2:25 with Cooper Connell and Greg Lapointe assisting. Five minutes later, it was 8-2 as Drew Cooper went post and in from the high slot over the glove of Pearson. Assisting on the play were Cooper Connell and Joshua Wildauer. The Bulldogs would get one back, just over a minute later as a puck ended up on net off an Express defender where it was stopped by Watson. An extended scramble played out, with several attempts on net staying out before Jackson Munro finally snapped it home to make it 8-3 at 8:36 with Austin Spiridakis and Josh Zary assisting. There would be no chance to build momentum, as just 1:10 later Greg Lapointe was set up in the hashmarks where he went off the post and in high blocker side on Pearson with Wyatt Head and Massimo Rizzo assisting at 9:46 of the third to make it 9-3. The Bulldogs would get one back on the power play to make it 9-4 with just over five minutes to play as Stephen Castagna found a loose puck behind the net from a Tim Gould shot and threw it to the right point for Grayson Valente, who scored on a quick half-slapper short-side past the glove of Watson to complete the scoring at 14:42 of the third.
Shots in the third were 16-13 Bulldogs, for a 41-34 total in their favour with Luke Pearson taking the loss while Jack Watson earned the win. The Bulldogs went 1 for 4 on the power play while the Express went 0 for 2.
The Bulldogs are next in action Friday night in Powell River when they open a double header with the Kings.
Hammer
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