The Bulldogs came out an inspired bunch, with an obvious burr under their saddle. The game had great pace, with no whistles through the first 2:26 from the opening faceoff. While their wasn't much in the way of offensive opportunities either way, the pace was high and fun to watch. The Bulldogs earned the first power play of the game past the midway mark of the first, but didn't look good on it as the Capitals had the best scoring chance when Olivier Gauthier stole the puck in the Dogs zone for a shorthanded breakaway that was stopped by Cole Demers. The Bulldogs earned another power play shortly afterwards, and while they looked better on it, they couldn't cash in. The Capitals found the net on a poor change by the Bulldogs when they had the puck in their zone but got out-manned as Jordan Robert put a good pass to the front of the net for Ryan Moon who cut in front and lifted a backhand high under the cross bar over Demers to make it 1-0 at 17:50 of the first. The Bulldogs responded with a solid shift after the goal, but Jack Grant made a good save on a scramble on the door step to keep it 1-0 after 20 minutes. Shots were 12-5 Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs were penalized in the early moments of the second period, on a boarding call stemming from a footrace on a pending icing. They would kill it off, with Cole Demers coming up with a couple solid saves. The Bulldogs were again penalized soon afterwards on a retaliation at centre ice. They would again kill it off. The Bulldogs tried to push back through the period to get back on the attack, and drew a power play chance at the midway point of the period. For the most part, they again didn't look good on it and certainly didn't earn any momentum. The Bulldogs found themselves in a 2-0 hole a couple minutes later after a sloppy turnover in their zone as Caleb Franklin stole the puck below the goal line and put a perfect pass to the front of the net for Dan MacIntyre, who one-tied it up and over Demers at 13:20 of the second. The Bulldogs again responded well to the goal against, and had a fantastic chance to get on the board on an attacking shift in the Capitals zone but Jack Grant made a fantastic highlight reel save on Jackson Doucet in the slot on a Michael Sacco set up. In the late minutes of the period the Bulldogs went to the penalty box on a big hit by Spencer Hora that was ruled to be interference. The Caps made quick work of the power play, with a perfect set up down low for Preston Brodziak that he slid across the crease for Dimitri Mikrogiannakis who made no mistake one-timing it into the open side. Olivier Gauthier drew the second assist at 18:20 of the second for a 3-0 Capitals lead after 40 minutes. Shots in the period were 13-10 Capitals for a 40 minute total of 22-18 Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs pushed early in the third, again drawing a penalty but again failing to capitalize on it, or gain any momentum from threatening on it. The Capitals didn't give up much through the midway point of the period, with the Dogs unable to generate any sustained attack. One final exclamation point from the Capitals came with just under five minutes to play as a dump in was misplayed by a Bulldog defender resulting in a bounce to the slot that was put on net with a great first save made by Cole Demers, but the second rebound ending up finding the back of the net to make it 4-0. Ryan Moon got credit for it for his second of the game, with assists going to Lucas Vanroboys and Kolton Cousins at 15:10 of the third to complete the scoring.
Third period shots were 7-5 Bulldogs, for a game total of 29-23 Bulldogs with Cole Demers taking the loss while Jack Grant earned 1st star honours with the win and the shut out. The Bulldogs went 0 for 5 on the power play while the Capitals went 1 for 4.
With the loss, the Bulldogs have lost two in a row. They are next in action Friday at 1:30 at the BCHL Showcase when they take on the Wenatchee Wild.
Hammer
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