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Thursday, February 11, 2016

Dogs drop second straight, 6-3 to Clippers



Tonight''s Game Report is brought to you courtesy of the Best Western Plus Barclay Hotel 






The BEST WESTERN PLUS Barclay Hotel, the largest full facility hotel in Port Alberni, BC. When staying with us there is no need to give up conveniences you are used to. You can discover treasures to take home at the Alberni Harbour Quay, and then browse our onsite Cold Beer, Wine Store and liquor store or retreat to our Stamps Cafe or Pastimes Sports Bar and Grill to enjoy a snack or to watch the game on our big screen TV. Then, relax in our sauna or pool before settling in our luxurious accommodations to enjoy the vintage wine picked up earlier. That's when you will truly understand why the tranquil setting of our hotel has been called the perfect place to call home. If traveling on business, our Port Alberni Hotel boasts over 4500 square feet of meeting space in four rooms that are perfect for small conventions, banquets, parties, meetings and weddings. AV equipment and catering are also available.


The game began with a thud for the Bulldogs, but a bang for the Clippers as  dump in that went wide of the net was worked loose out of the corner by Charley Borek, who set up Devin Brosseau inside the right circle where he ripped a quick release low, far-side past the blocker of Brody Claeys to make it 1-0 just 11 seconds into the game. Despite the disheartening start, the Bulldogs responded well as they got right on the attack and had several good looks to run up a 6-1 lead in shots, but Evan Johnson was equal to the task in the Nanaimo net to protect the lead. The Clippers would certainly suck the life out of the building and the Bulldogs when they went up 2-0 on their second shot just short of four minutes in when Spencer Hewson put a wrist shot on net along the ice from a sharp angle from the bottom of the left circle that eluded Brody Claeys. Assists on the play went to Devin Brosseau and Charley Borek at 3:25 of the first. A bad turnover on the next sequence saw Claeys made a great save on a cross-ice one-timer by Nolan Aibel ,but the Clippers drew a power play chance just seconds later, and avoided what might have been a too-many-men penalty at the bench. They made quick work of it to go up 3-0 on a pretty cross-ice set up by Kale Bennett who set up Gavin Gould who one-timed it high into the open net before Claeys could get over at 5:52 as Carson Schamerhorn entered the game in relief. The Clippers would carry the play for a spell, with Schamerhorn coming up with a couple good stops to keep it close. The Dogs would get some momentum later in the period and generate a couple of looks, but couldn't find the net as the period expired. Shots favoured Nanaimo 14-13 after 20 minutes.

The Bulldogs took a half-minute power play chance into the second, and while they failed to score on it they generated some momentum and got on the board soon after as Troy Dobbs made a great heads-up pass from the left point to Jordan Sandhu at the bottom of the right circle. He would one-touch it to the top of the crease for Tristan Bukovec, who deflected it home through Evan Johnson to make it 3-1 at 2:22 of period two. The Bulldogs would give it right back however, as an ill-timed change resulted in a clear-cut breakaway for Gavin Gould on a nice stretch pass on the tape from Nolan Aibel. When it's going good, it's going good, and when it's going bad, it seems to go bad and this play might have been a perfect example of it as Gould walked in on net, mostly whiffed on the shot, but ended up beating Schamerhorn on a wounded duck knuckling wrist shot to make it 4-1 at 5:48 of the second. The Dogs would earn a power play pushing right back to get back in it, but they would concede a short handed goal on a very similar play to the previous goal against as a flipped puck was missed by a Bulldog defender at centre, as Gavin Gould again raced in on a breakaway, and again appeared to partially misfire on the puck yet still find the back of the net five-hole on Schamerhorn. Spencer Hewson drew the only assist on the play, that came with a single second left on a Bulldog power play to make it 5-1 at 9:16 of the second. The Dogs got back on the board less than a minute later when Paul Meyer was tripped up at centre, but Cayden Kraus found the puck and brought it over the Clipper line. He made a nice move to make a defender miss before walking in tight and ripping a shot of the post. Chris Schutz would pounce on the rebound though, drilling it into the open side to make it a 5-2 game at 10:04 of the second. The Dogs weren't able to generate much after that though, as the Clippers pushed back and had another great chance on another breakaway with less than six minutes to play in the period, but Carson Schamerhorn came up with a big glove save on Devin Brosseau to keep it a three-goal spread after 40 minutes. Shots in the period favoured the Bulldogs 18-13 for a two period advantage of 31-27.

The Dogs weren't able to get the jump early in the third that they needed, as the Clippers didn't give up much in holding their three-goal advantage through the midway mark of the period. The Bulldogs drew a penalty with just under seven minutes to play, and gambled on the power play by pulling the goalie to make it a 6 on 4 situation. The Clippers did a solid job killing it off though, as the Dogs didn't generate much in the way of good looks on it. The Dogs again gambled with just under three minutes to play and found the net to restore some hope with just over two minutes to play when Nathan Dingmann jammed in a rebound on the goal line at the end of a scramble to make it 5-3 with Ryan Finnegan and Paul Meyer drawing the assists at 17:47 of the third. Seconds later the Dogs drew another penalty to again make it a 6 on 4 with a chance to pull within one, but that situation was quickly erased when Spencer Hewson found a loose puck off the draw in the Clipper end and spun and fired and hit the empty net dead centre to make it a 6-3 Clipper lead with 1:26 to play. Yanni Kaldis drew the only assist on the short handed empty netter at 18:34 of the third.

Shots in the third favoured the Bulldogs 15-4, for a game total favouring the Dogs 46-31. Carson Schamerhorn took the loss in net giving up three goals in relief of Brody Claeys while Evan Johnson picked up the win. The Dogs went 0 for 5 on the power play, while the Clippers went 1 for 1 while also scoring twice while shorthanded.

The Dogs will attend the Port Alberni Junior Hockey Society Fundraising dinner Friday night, before hosting Salmon Arm Saturday night and the Merritt Centennials Sunday afternoon.

Hammer


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