The Bulldogs were a step behind in the early moments of the game, as the Wild on successive shifts hemmed the Dogs in their end. Colten Lancaster would make a great first save on a one-time set up in tight, but he couldn't control the rebound or get any help on it as Sam Morton slid it home five hole to make it 1-0 at 1:41 of the first. The Bulldogs would continue to be a step behind, and were penalized on the following shift. They successfully killed the penalty off, with Lancaster coming up with a couple good saves. The Bulldogs earned their first power play of the game soon afterwards, and came close to connecting on it as Austin Park made a fantastic save on a rebound for Connor Welsh off a Mitch Oliver one timer. Another penalty against the Bulldogs was killed off on a pretty soft slashing call later in the period, with the Dogs pushing back to try and get into the game. A very dangerous hit that saw Ryan Steele driven head-first into the boards from behind went uncalled, with the Wild almost scoring on the play as Lancaster made a great glove save on Lucas Sowder to keep it 1-0. It looked like the Dogs might get out of the period only trailing by one, but the Wild pushed and made it 2-0 with 50 seconds to play as AJ Vanderback scored on a wrap around with assists to Lucas Sowder and Jasper Weatherby. Shots in the period favoured the Wild 16-3.
The second period played out the same way over the first few minutes, with the Dogs a step behind and the Wild spending long stretches of time in their own end. They would again pay the price for it, as a puck thrown net by Cooper Zech was stopped by Lancaster, but the loose puck ended up behind him where Josh Arnold found it first to put it home to make it 3-0 at 4:23 of the period. The Dogs were still unable to pick up the pace, and again the Wild connected to make it 4-0 on a pass out of the right corner to the front of the net for Jared Christy, who snapped it home from in tight at 8:35 of the second with assists to Jackson Wozniak and Brady Bjork. Just over a minute later the Wild made it 5-0 on a lonnnnng 2 on 1 rush that saw Lucas Sowder take a pass from Jasper Weatherby and walk in tight down the left side where he snapped a shot home short-side past the blocker of Lancaster, with AJ Vanderbeck also drawing an assist at 9:57 of the second as John Hawthorne entered the game in relief off the bench. The Bulldogs continued to chase the game, with Hawthorne tested frequently. They would respond to get on the board with just under five minutes to play in the period when they caught the Wild pressing as Ryan Steele banked a pass ahead to Keaton Mastrodonato for a long 2 on 1 that he played to perfection, out waiting the defence before putting a perfect cross-ice feed onto the tape of Jackson Doucet, who blasted a one-timer into the open net to make it 5-1 at 14:44 of the second. The Dogs appeared sparked by the goal, and came close to making it a three goal game with Austin Park making a save in tight off Mitch Oliver and getting help from his defence on a loose puck in the paint on the rebound. Much like the end of the first, the Dogs got caught on a long stretch in their zone late in the period, and paid for it as Nathan Iannone put a perfect pass into the top of the left circle for a pinching in Cooper Zech, who blasted a one-timer high over Hawthorne to make it 6-1, with August Von Ungern also assisting at 19:49 of the second. Shots in the period were 12-7 Wild, for a two period total in their favour of 28-10.
The Bulldogs started the third period with a good initial push through the opening seconds of it, but the Wild went up 7-1 on an odd goal just seconds later as Mitch Oliver deflected a pass high in the air from the Dogs line that bounced at the side of the net. Colten Lancaster - who came back on to start the third - attempted to knock it away with his stick, but Jasper Weatherby arrived at the same time and banged it home just 22 seconds into the third, un-assisted. The Bulldogs would earn back to back power play chances through the first half of the period, but were for the most part unable to threaten on them. The Wild would then earn a power play at the midway point of the period that they cashed in on as they had a good minute of pressure in the Dogs end before they connected on a shot from the left circle that was deflected through the legs of Lancaster by Lucas Sowder for his second of the game with a few seconds left in the power play to complete the scoring for the eventual 8-1 final.
Third period shots were 15-4 Wild, for a game total in their favour of 43-14 with Colten Lancaster taking the loss while Austin Park picked up the win. The Dogs went 0 for 3 on the power play while the Wild went 1 for 5.
With the loss the Dogs have lost three in a row, and are now winless in four. They conclude their road trip tomorrow afternoon in Langley.
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