Despite outshooting the West Kelowna Warriors the Bulldogs managed to lose 8-3. The Bulldogs had several chances just had issues finishing them. They did face a very hot and lucky Angelo Zol in net for the Warriors. They finished most of their chances. Chances which the Bulldogs had many more of. One of the strangest games I have seen in that building. If I played on the Warriors I would be buying massive amounts of lotto tickets. No one even if good can be able to pull that kind of luck out again. The bounces alone were head scratchers all night.
Montreal native Olivier Chan opened up the scoring for the Warriors 1:24 into the game sneaking it through the five hole. The assists on the goal went to Concord, MA native Dylan Krayer and Lulea, Sweden native Liam Nilsson.
Jace Rask made it a 2-0 game at 5:30 of the first period while the Warriors were gifted a Power Play. The assists on the goal went to Olivier Chan and Philip Hagen.
Liam Nilsson made it a 3-0 game on another Power Play gift at 14:38 of the first period sneaking one past a screened Mertz. The assists on the goal went to Carter Oakenfold and Olivier Chan.
Kelsen Podworny gave the Warriors a 4-0 lead at 18:18 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Ian Alonso and Lulea, Sweden native Ruslan Jamaldinov. Jamldinov is one of 2 players on the Warriors from Lulea, Sweden. The other Swede however has a more Swedish sounding name. This was the only goal they scored in the first period that was a garbage goal, The rest were all very nice.
Shots on goal in the first period were 16-10 for the Bulldogs. After the first period Carson Mertz was replaced with Brady Smith. Those first 3 goals that the Warriors scored though were very good quality goals.
Ruslan Jamaldinov finished off a beautiful 2 on 1 to make it a 5-0 game at 2:02 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Quinlan Parry and Dylan Krayer.
The Bulldogs finally scored at 11:06 of the second period while on the Power Play when Thomas Neu scored. The assist on the goal went to Noah Mertz.
Luke Dahlen made it a 5-2 game at 16:07 of the second period on the Power Play. The assists on the goal went to Joey Melo and Nikita Ivashchenko.
Arizona State commit Dylan Krayer scored right as the Warriors returned to even strength with just one shot (after the Bulldogs were down in the Warriors zone and had about 10 chances🙄) The assists on the goal went to Kyle Greene and Ian Crowley. That brought the score to 6-2 for the Warriors.
Shots on goal in the second period were 15-14 for the Bulldogs.
Jace Rask made it 7-2 at 4:03 of the third period with the helper on that goal going to Ian Crowley.
Swede Ruslan Jamaldinov got his second goal of the night and 4th of the season to make it a 8-2 game at 5:16of the third period unassisted.
Nikita Ivashchenko got one for the Bulldogs on the Power Play at 13:00 to end the game with an 8-3 score. The helpers on the goal went to Noah Mertz and Thomas Neu.
Shots on goal in the third period were 8 each. The Bulldogs outshot the Warriors 39-32 in the game.
For the Warriors Angelo Zol made 36 saves on the 39 shots that he faced for the win. For the Bulldogs Carson Mertz stopped 6 of the 10 shots that he faced in the first period. He was replaced by Brady Smith who played the last 2 periods stopping 18 of the 22 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the Game on the BCHL site were 1) Dylan Krayer Ruslan Jaldinov 3) Nikita Ivashchenko. The person that selected those probably never watched the game of is involved in the committee responsible for everyone gets a medal day. The obvious choice would of been Angelo Zol for all 3 stars with maybe the third star maybe going to the horseshoe he has strapped somewhere to him.
Attendance in Blackfalds was 559
Bulldogs next game is Saturday October 4th against the Spruce Grove Saints in Blackfalds
