The Bulldogs got off to a fantastic start. They spent the opening shift in the attacking zone, and were awarded a power play at the end of the shift on an accidental trip. While they didn't score on the advantage, they did put five or six shots on net to earn momentum. A second power play soon afterwards didn't yield any chances or momentum, but the Bulldogs kept pressing and quickly took a 1-0 lead as they went end-to-end off a defensive zone face off by Dawson Tritt that saw Tommy Bannister jump past his check onto the loose puck to fly out of the zone. He hit Ryan Doolin with a head-man pass up the right side, and Doolin fought through a defender to create a 2 on 1 rush where he made a perfect cross-ice pass onto the tape of Bannister who beat his man to the net to tap it in at 6:15 of the first. The following minutes were pretty to watch, as the Bulldogs spent extended periods in the attacking zone, winning battles and playing a physical game, but they couldn't add to their lead. They would come up with a penalty kill later in the period, with Luke Pearson coming up with several saves, and the penalty killers in front of him doing a solid job of killing rebounds as it stayed 1-0 after 20 minutes, with the shots favouring the Bulldogs 12-10.
The Bulldogs didn't give up much in killing off 1:40 of power play time for the Kings to open the second, and earned a power play of their own a minute later on a dangerous hit from behind by Jack Long on Ryan Doolin that saw him get a boarding call. The Bulldogs couldn't capitalize on it, before a somewhat soft penalty took them off of it. The Kings would make good on the power play that followed to tie the game, as Jack Long kept the puck in at the right point and threw it across the line where Davis Pennington put a wrist shot at the net that beat a screened Pearson glove side to make it 1-1 at 5:23 of the second, with Jacob Badal also assisting. It would spark the Kings, and the Dogs didn't respond, as they quickly trailed 2-1 when Brett Roloson drove around a defender and in on net where he lost the handle, but had the puck beat Pearson five-hole. Assisting on the play were Jacob Badal and Ethan Schmunk at 8:09 of the second. Less than a minute later, it was 3-1 on an extended attacking zone shift resulting in a shot at the net that was deflected short-side past the glove of Pearson from the top of the crease by Riley Moran at 8:43 of the period, with assists going to Ian Kern and Levi Glasman. The Bulldogs tried to push back, and got back to keeping it simple and getting pucks on net and pushing the pace. They couldn't bury on a chance, with Pearson coming up with a couple big saves on back to back 2 on 1 rushes to maintain the deficit. The Bulldogs couldn't dig out of the hole, before digging it deeper as a Bulldog defenceman with the puck in his zone carried it behind his net and got in trouble, as Riley Moran stole it from him and put a perfect pass to the slot to Levi Glasman, who picked the top corner, blocker side on Pearson to make it 4-1 at 14:49 of the second, with Davis Pennington being credited with a phantom assist. The Kings would go up 5-1 with 31 seconds to play in the period, on a garbage goal that I can't believe was allowed to count - and the following 20 minutes might have had a lot to do with the decision - as Brett Roloson went to the net off a draw where he carried his momentum off a defenseman's bump into Luke Pearson, in his crease. He didn't "run" him, but made no attempt to avoid contact, and took an excuse to continue into the goaltender, knocking him over, onto his back and into the net as the puck went off of him and in. Assisting were Riley Moran and Levi Glasman at 19:29 of the second. The period would end, unsurprisingly, with a large dust up at the Bulldog bench. Shots in the period were 18-8 Kings, for a 28-20 edge in their favour after 40 minutes.
The third period saw Carlos Siso enter the game in relief of Luke Pearson, and an all out lack of control for the better part of any instances when the play was on, which was frequently interrupted by skirmishes, a near line brawl, and a fight that wasn't. I had numerous times said I was worried about the way the game had lost all sense of control, and how it was a scenario that wasn't fun to watch as it was a scenario where it wasn't safe. The fight that wasn't was the most disgusting part of the evening, as it ended with an over-zealous Linesman approaching Josh Zary from behind, wrapping him up in a pseudo-head lock and then ripping him backwards and down, and onto his leg resulting in an apparent serious injury. A frightening scene unfolded, with the Referee on the scene immediately calling to the Bulldog bench for Medical Assistance, and a writhing Zary in obvious pain on the ice.
Any further detail is hard to go into - both teams were affected from watching it, and it seemed neither team was that much interested in doing anything but playing out the remaining minutes without anyone else getting injured. the scoring in the period was the Kings going up 6-1 on a tip in from the slot by Nolan Krogfoss at 6:23 of the third, assisted by Ian Kern and Ben Wozney and the 7-1 goal saw Brett Pfoh deposit a rebound on the rush after a first save by Siso with Riley Moran and Davis Pennington drawing assists at 10:10 of the third.
Third period shots were 9-7 Bulldogs, for a game total of 35-29 Kings, with Luke Pearson taking the loss while Derek Krall earned the win. The Bulldogs went 0 for 6 on the power play while the Kings went 1 for 5.
The Bulldogs have now lost six straight. The teams meet again tomorrow night in Powell River at 5:00.
Hammer
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