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Bulldogs Top Backs 5-3

Port Alberni, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks were defeated by the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 5-3 on Saturday night at Weyerhaeuser Arena. They came back from a 3-0 deficit early in the game and fired 42 shots on goal, but came up just short.

Their record now stands at 19-12-2, good for third place in the Interior Division.

GAME SUMMARY

It was a crazy first period at the ‘Dawg Pound’, which started with a goal just 13 seconds in. Bulldogs defenceman Jimmy Rayhill let a wrist shot go from the right point that beat Brett Balas through traffic to open the scoring.

The Silverbacks didn’t take very long to establish their forecheck and were able to create plenty of chances over the next several minutes, but it was the Bulldogs who ended up extending their lead at the 11:45 mark of the period. This time, forward Caige Sterzer was able to jump on a loose puck after a blocker save from Balas to make the score 2-0. Just 15 seconds later, Jacob Bosse flew down the left wing and beat Balas to the top corner on the short side to make it a 3-0 game.

Following that goal, Ethan Langenegger replaced Balas in goal. Just 2:56 later, the Silverbacks got on the board thanks to Lucas Breault who stuffed one past the left pad of Jackson Glassford to make it 3-1 with 5:04 to go in the first period.

That was the score line heading into the first intermission, with the Backs leading in shots on goal 20-10.

Just 26 seconds into the second period, Breault picked the pocket of a Bulldog defender behind the net and converted on a wrap around before Glassford could even get set, making the score 3-2.

The Bulldogs responded 52 seconds after that, thanks to Bosse’s second tally of the game. A few minutes later, the Silverbacks drew a penalty, during which Breault fed a cross-ice pass to Hirose, who made no mistake to the top corner to once again cut the Bulldog lead to one goal.

After 40 minutes, the score was still 4-3 for Alberni Valley, with the Backs out-shooting them 35-17.

The Bulldogs had a strong start to the third period, and even though Salmon Arm generated more scoring chances halfway through the third period, they couldn’t get to any loose rebounds. The Backs managed seven shots in the third period overall and couldn’t find the equalizer. Alberni Valley scored an empty-netter with 10.5 seconds to go to seal the win.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES

Lucas Breault, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Breault factored in on all three Backs tallies, finishing with two goals and an assist in this one. His assist to Hirose on the power play was a thing of beauty.

Jacob Bosse, Alberni Valley Bulldogs: Bosse also had two goals and an assist, and displayed his speed all night long.

Jackson Glassford, Alberni Valley Bulldogs: While the Backs didn’t do enough to capitalize on second chance opportunities, Glassford nonetheless made some huge stops, especially in the first two periods. He finished with 39 saves.

For the full boxscore, click here.

STAT OF THE GAME

3 Bulldogs Goals First 12 Minutes: All things considered, the Backs played well after finding themselves down 3-0 early on. It was that deficit that changed the outlook of the game.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Silverbacks face off against the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Sunday afternoon to close out their first Island road trip, with puck drop scheduled for 2 p.m.

The contest can be heard on 91.5 EZ Rock with the pre-game show starting at 1:30 p.m. Fans can also stream the game on HockeyTV.