After a very slow and somewhat sloppy start to the game, with back to back whistles in the first 15 seconds, the Bulldogs opened the scoring just 1:31 in when Grayson Valente played the puck down the left wing in the Smoke Eaters zone. The puck took an odd hop off the end boards and bounced back to the slot where it was found by Ryan Miotto. He put a quick pass to the left circle for Jackson Doucet, who beat Adam Marcoux with a lightning quick release five-hole to make it 1-0, with assists going to Keaton Mastrodonato and Ryan Miotto. The Bulldogs would have two fantastic chances in the following minutes on 2 on 1 rushes and in alone chances for both Nicholas Seitz and Isaac Tonkin-Palmer, but Marcoux came up with two huge saves to keep it a one-goal game. The Bulldogs would kill off a penalty short of the midway point of the first, with John Hawthorne being busy, but solid to protect the lead. Immediately after the media time out, the Smoke Eaters tied the game when Carter Jones won a draw in the Dogs zone back to Tyler Ghiradosi who rolled of the top of the circle un-checked before snapping a shot through traffic past the blocker of Hawthorne to make it 1-1 at 10:33 of the first. The Bulldogs earned their first power play of the game late in the period, and looked good on it initially with Marcoux coming up with two good saves. A cross-crease rebound on an open net would bounce over a Bulldog stick, and Smoke Eaters countered on the rush. A backchecker would lose an edge, resulting in a chance in front that saw Hawthorne come up with a ridiculous desperation save diving back to the goal line to get an arm on what looked like a sure goal. He couldn't recover in time, or get any help on the follow up rebound unfortunately, as Mack Byers out fought two Bulldogs to find the loose puck and lift it home inside the post short-side to make it 2-1, while shorthanded. Braeden Tuck drew the lone assist at 17:40 of the first, shorthanded. Shots in the first were 16-7 Smoke Eaters.
The second period started with the Smoke Eaters having a long initial shift in the Bulldogs zone. A minute later on a delayed penalty scenario, Hawthorne came up with a big save on a breakaway chance for Kent Johnson. The Smoke Eaters would catch the Bulldogs attempting to change on an early clear of the zone, as Trevor Zins put a perfect pass onto the tape of Braeden Tuck. He skated in alone and faked backhand before tucking it inside the post on his forehand to make it 3-1 at 3:28 on the power play. The Bulldogs didn't appear to be deflated by the goal against, as they continued to push over the next five minutes. They weren't able to trim the deficit though, before the Smokies went up 4-1 on a bad bounce on a long-range shot from Jeremy Smith from the right point, that appeared to hit a pant leg in front to deflect past Hawthorne. Assists on the play went to Sean Donaldson and Mack Byers at 10:19 of the second. The Bulldogs generated a chance on the following shift, resulting in an attacking zone faceoff. They would win the draw, but a Smokie winger beat his man off the draw to get to the puck before it reached the defender at the line, resulting in an odd-man rush. The rush initially looked off-side at the Bulldog line, but was waved off. John Hawthorne would make another rediculous highlight reel save on a one-timer from the slot, and a follow up rebound attempt. Once again, he couldn't get help on the second rebound as Kent Johnson banged it home to make it 5-1 at 11:03 of the second, with Braeden Tuck and Levi Glasman assisting. The Bulldogs again to their credit didn't quit, as they generated two great chances later in the period, with Adam Marcoux coming up with big stops on Stephen Castagna and Jackson Doucet to protect the lead. Shots in the period were 11-10 Trail, for a 27-17 advantage after two periods.
The Bulldogs came out flat to start the third, and fell into a deeper hole before it was a minute old. Cole Demers made a great save with his right toe on a Levi Glasman chance in front, but the rebound was found and one-timed home by Kent Johnson to make it 6-1, with an additional assist going to Jeremy Smith. Once again the Bulldogs didn't deflate, and were rewarded for it four minutes later on the power play as Grayson Valente made a good play to keep the puck in at the left point before throwing a hard D-to-D pass to Spencer Hora at the right point. He would throw a hard shot at the net that missed short-side, but the end board bounce came out off the back post where Nicholas Seitz one-timed it home before Marcoux could recover to make it 6-2 at 5:14 of the third, on the power play. The Bulldogs kept pushing, and made it a 6-3 game just over a minute later when Aaron Bohlinger put the puck into the bottom of the right circle for Mitchel Deelstra. He did a good job to protect the puck and separate himself from his man before putting a pass to the top of the crease for Isaac Tonkin-Palmer, who one-timed it from the top of the crease high over Marcoux to make it 6-3 at 6:39 of the third. That's as close as the Bulldogs would come, with the Smoke Eaters completing the scoring in the back half of the third on a 2 on 1 rush after a Bulldog defender fell at the attacking line. Braeden Tuck would accept a Levi Glasman pass in alone and make no mistake with a top-corner short-side finish over a Cole Demers pad stack attempt to make it 7-3 at 13:34 of the third. While the Bulldogs continued to generate offence through the remainder of regulation, they couldn't trim the deficit.
Third period shots were 16-14 Bulldogs, for a game total of 41-33 Trail, with John Hawthorne taking the loss before being relieved by Cole Demers while Adam Marcoux earned the win. The Bulldogs went 1 for 5 on the power play, while the Smoke Eaters also went 1 for 5 while scoring once while shorthanded.
With the loss, the Bulldogs have now dropped five straight games. They are next in action tomorrow night in Penticton, a 6:00pm start.
Hammer
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