It was somewhat of an odd start to the game, with neither team getting a puck on net through the first five minutes of play as neither team had a shot on net. The Spruce Kings would generate the first good look of the game on a deflection from the slot by Corey Cunningham, but John Hawthorne came up with a great save. The first good look for the Bulldogs was at the midway point of the period as Cole Poliziani put a low slapper on net after a long battle was won by Brad Ong, but Bradley Cooper just got his pad on top of it to keep it out. The Bulldogs earned the game's first power play later in the period, and while they didn't score on it they did look sharp and generated a couple good chances and gained some momentum. The last three to four minutes of the period was again played somewhat like the first minutes of it, as neither team generated or gave up much either way. Shots were 7-6 Spruce Kings after 20 minutes.
The second period saw more in the way of offense by both sides, with the Bulldogs opening the scoring just over three minutes into the period. Connor Welsh fed Gregg Lee up the left wing over the Spruce Kings line, where he forced it back of the net to the right corner where Cayden Kraus made a good read to feed the puck back to the right point for Mitch Oliver. He would simply put it at the net, and Kraus went to it where he deflected the shot through the legs of Cooper to make it 1-0 at 3:16 of the second. The Bulldogs would come up with a solid penalty kill five minutes later with John Hawthorne making back to back glove saves in tight, and then immediately built their lead as a puck up the wall was found by Christian Simeone, who walked into the deep slot down the right side where he ripped one home top corner, short-side over the glove of Cooper at 8:03 of the second, with Brandon Bergado drawing the lone assist which brought about a goaltender change for the Spruce Kings as Evan DeBrouwer came into the game off the bench. The Bulldogs pushed hard to build their lead but the Spruce Kings held on, and then came up with a solid penalty kill of their own. They would find the net shortly afterwards to make it 2-1 as Chong Lee picked off a pass in the right circle and put a shot on net that Hawthorne stopped, but the rebound went skyward and fell at the side of the net where Nolan Welsh slammed it home at 13:13 of the second. The Bulldogs again pushed and had a couple near misses across the goal line at the Prince George net but couldn't get a bounce. The Spruce Kings would then push and hem the Bulldogs in their zone in the final minute of the period and would tie the game as Ben Brar walked into the deep slot and put a high shot on net that was stopped by Hawthorne, but Ethan de Jong managed to get his second or third rebound to go from his knees under the crossbar to make it 2-2 at 19:18 of the second. Shots in the period were 16-12 Spruce Kings, for a 23-18 advantage after 40 minutes.
The third period saw the Spruce Kings take a 3-2 lead in somewhat controversial fashion, as Jackson Doucet took a stick across the face that all four Officials missed. The Spruce Kings would go down ice and score seconds later, on a pass from behind the goal line to the slot that was one-timed home past Hawthorne by Ethan de Jong at 3:07 of the third, with the assists going to Ben Brar and Ben Poisson. The Bulldogs would tie the game on a gorgeous end to end rush by Cole Poliziani, as he carried the puck from behind his net and up the right wing over the Prince George line at full flight where he made a pretty move to make a defender miss before putting a perfect cross-ice feed to Isaac Tonkin-Palmer who deflected it inside the far post before DeBrouwer could get over to make it 3-3 at 10:38 of the third. The Bulldogs would earn a power play on a rather soft call, but a call none the less with just over four minutes to play, but they couldn't cash in on it for the game winner as the game went to overtime. Shots in the third were 11-10 Bulldogs, for a 33-29 Spruce Kings lead after 60 minutes.
The first overtime saw the Bulldogs dominate, out-shooting the Spruce Kings 4-0 and having a couple chances that looked to be game winners, the most notable coming from Mitch Oliver with less than 15 seconds to play in OT as he walked around the zone to the slot and put a shot on net that was stopped by DeBrouwer. Oliver followed his own rebound to the net, and appeared to have it going high into the open net but DeBrouwer made a rediculous windmill desperation save to keep the game going. The second overtime was unfortunately not the usual end-to-end thrilling hockey, as the Bulldogs were penalized just 26 seconds into the 3-on-3 OT on what looked like to me a pretty crisp stick lift and defensive play, but the Referees thought different. The Bulldogs would successfully kill it off, with Hawthorne making a couple good saves, the best of which might have been on Ben Brar on the door step. The Bulldogs wouldn't get the puck back after they killed the penalty, but despite being Dog tired they defended well as the Spruce Kings made a series of changes to get fresh legs on the ice but nothing in the way of chances as time ran out and the game ended in a 3-3 draw.
Final shots were 35-33 Spruce Kings, with John Hawthorne and Evan DeBrouwer being the goalies of record. The Dogs went 0 for 4 on the power play and the Spruce Kings went 0 for 3.
With the tie, the Dogs win streak is snapped at three although they are now unbeaten in four. They are next in action when the Victoria Grizzlies visit the Dog Pound for a 2:00pm puck drop tomorrow.
Hammer
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