The early minutes of the game were somewhat flat, and sloppy both ways as neither team managed to generate any offence through the first five minutes. A quick transition by the Bulldogs out of their zone turned into an odd-man rush, which saw the Vees penalized at their net. The Bulldogs pushed early in the power play, and it led to a 5 on 3 advantage on a second Vees infraction. It took just 14 seconds fore the Bulldogs to make it count, as Matthew Grouchy put a perfect feed onto the tape of Mitchel Deelstra in the right circle, where he put an equally perfectly placed shot top corner, short-side high over the blocker of Yaniv Perets to make it 1-0 at 10:26 of the first, with Jackson Munro also drawing an assist. The Bulldogs threatened briefly on the second power play, but couldn't find the net. Another power play later in the period again saw them threaten around the Vees net, with Ryan Doolin put a rebound off the post. The Vees would again be penalized at the buzzer to end the first, on a blow to the head of Jackson Munro, putting the Bulldogs to the power play to start period two. Shots after one were 12-9 Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs were for the most part sloppy to begin the second on the power play, having a good initial chance on a shot and a rebound but otherwise looking out of sync as the Vees killed it off. The Vees pushed back, and had a great chance at the side of the net stopped in mid-air on the goal line by the glove of Scott Bird to protect the lead. Seconds later, the Vees responded on a set up to the hashmarks that saw Darwin Lakoduk partially misfire on a one-timer, but it worked out as it hit the skate of Jackson Neidermayer in the paint and found the back of the net to make it 1-1 at 5:16 of the second, with David Silye also drawing an assist. The officials would talk about the goal, but it stood. Off the following centre ice faceoff, the Vees had a great chance - that appeared to be offside, but Bird made the save on the partial breakaway to keep it 1-1. Just 10 seconds later, the Bulldogs took the lead right back as Matthias Dal Monte made a gorgeous outlet pass to Ryan Doolin up the right wing over the Penticton line to create a 2 on 1 rush. He would carry it in tight before putting a cross-crease feed onto the tape of a driving Matthew Grouchy, who one-touch deflected it home into the open side to make it 2-1 Bulldogs at 5:40 of the second. The Bulldogs would kill off a Penticton power play to protect the lead, with Scott Bird coming up with a couple big saves on the doorstep, and his penalty killers doing a great job to win battles around the net. Shots in the period were 9-8 Vees, for a 20-18 Bulldogs edge after 40 minutes.
The Bulldogs killed off a Penticton power play to begin the third period, as well as two subsequent Vees power play opportunities into the back half of the period, with again Scott Bird being solid - most notably on a partial breakaway for Drew Elsler with eight minutes to play in the third. The Bulldogs would earn back to back power play chances in the last seven minutes, and came painfully close to padding their lead, but Yaniv Perets made a series of big saves in tight to keep it a one-goal game. The Vees frantically pressed for the equalizer in the final minutes, with Scott Bird being again good, but the Bulldog defenders in front of him being nothing less than sensational when it came to laying out to block shots. The Bulldogs would hold the lead into the final 15 seconds of the third, before failing to hit the empty net from the wrong side of centre bringing about a stoppage of play and a time out. They would get a bounce off the ensuing faceoff, but played the puck and not the body and couldn't clear it. They would pay dearly for it, as the Vees tied the game when a shot from the top of the point was stopped by Bird, but Jackson Neidermayer potted a loose puck five-hole on Bird to make it 2-2 at 19:52 of the third, with assists going to Danny Weight and Jay O'Brien. Third period shots were 14-11 Vees, for a 60 minute total of 32-31 Vees.
Overtime would end quickly, with the Bulldogs having the intiial possession and scoring opportunity, but missing the net resulting in a rush the other way that saw David Silye defer to Jay O'Brien, who entered the Bulldog zone up the left wing before putting a rink-wide pass to the right side of the slot for Steve Holtz, who put a quick release off a Bulldog stick and in, long-side past the blocker of Bird for the game winner at 16 seconds of overtime for the 3-2 final.
Overtime shots were 1-0 Vees, for a game total of 33-31 Penticton. Yaniv Perets earned 3rd star honours with the win, while Scott Bird took the loss. The Bulldogs went 1 for 7 on the power play while the Vees went 0 for 4.
The Bulldogs conclude their weekend tomorrow afternoon in Merritt, a 2pm puck drop against the Centennials.
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