Burnaby Bulldogs Junior A Hockey Club - Powered By esportsdesk.com

BULLDOGS DROP TWO TIGHT ONES _------------------- The Burnaby Bulldogs are down 2-0 in their best-of-seven first round playoff series. On Thursday night, South Surrey overcame a 3-0 deficit to force overtime and then the Bulldogs almost did the same thing last night. The end result for Burnaby was a 5-4 double overtime loss in Game One, followed by a 4-2 defeat in Game Two. In the opening game the Bulldogs held a precarious 3-1 lead after two periods only to see the Eagles storm back to take a 4-3 lead. It took a late goal by Mitch Bartley to force the extra time. And then it was the ‘Dogs who tried to make it interesting with two third period tallies by Alex Nikiforuk in the second game. One reason the Bulldogs made it a 3-2 score late in Game Two is coach Rick Hillier’s confidence in his top three lines. Not that he likes to match lines during games, and not that he has the choice on the road either. “When they get the last change (it sometimes happens),” Hillier said of a preferred line matchup. “I certainly didn’t mind those guys lined up against (their top line). If that’s the matchup that (Surrey coach) Mark (Holick) wanted to go with, so be it. I’m happy with any one of my top three lines playing against the Watson, Trsek and Sampson line. I wasn’t matching lines because I don’t have last change, but I was happy with the matchups that we had.” Hillier generally pits strength against strength. The so-called third line featuring Cole Roberts between Mike Rossa and Curtis Tidball was effective in a checking role on the Olympic-sized ice in South Surrey. The top unit of Nenad Gajic, David Ullmann and Jordan Courtepatte has been it’s normal productive self, while the trio of Nikiforuk, Bartley and Jamie Jeannotte has continued its hot run from the last month of the regular season. With everyone healthy for Burnaby, Hillier has the option of tinkering with his lineup. Last night two affiliate players, Jimo King and Wes Rich dressed at forward. They took the place of defensemen Taylor Emmerson and Gabe Krahn. “We’re trying to look for something to give us a little bit more of a spark,” Hillier explained. “The intensity level (on Thursday night) was excellent, pretty much throughout the whole course of the game. (Last night) we lacked a little bit to start with. It took a few key penalty kills to get us fired up, so we’re trying to inject some life into the boys.” Game Two gave the Bulldogs plenty of penalty killing practice when 127 minutes in penalties were assessed by referee Shawn McKaskill. Burnaby accounted for an unbelievable 119 of those minutes and killed off no less than three 5-on-3 Eagles’ powerplays in a row during the second period. South Surrey scored one man-advantage tally last night and two in Game One, when both teams had PIM totals in the mid-30 minute range. “I’m not sure that I understand the refereeing myself,” Hillier said of the Game Two nightmare. “It’s playoff hockey and, granted we do deserve some of the penalties we get, but in a playoff hockey game I certainly don’t agree with what has gone on. I guess when you’re the number one ranked penalty minutes team in the league then the game is reffed accordingly and that’s unfortunate.” The Bulldogs were the most penalized club in the BCHL and appear to have a bad rap in that department. It should be noted, however, that players like Curtis Tidball and Chris Shaw who may gotten into penalty trouble during the regular season, have been very composed so far in the post-season. Tidball, especially, is playing well and concentrating on his defensive assignments. An ugly incident involving fans of both teams sitting behind the Bulldogs’ bench forced a 10-minute delay in the third period of Game Two. It was a very distressful situation that included some heated interaction between a few vociferous Surrey fans and the Bulldogs. “Character wise, I think we were, without question, the best team on the ice,” a proud Hillier said following the Game Two defeat. “Our guys are going into this whole thing as underdogs. Obviously nobody gives us a chance – the referees, the fans, or anybody, so we’re taking that and running with it. Character wise, I like my team better than any I’ve seen in this league.” With 8:45 remaining in regulation time on Friday, and after the two sections of fans were entirely cleared out from behind the Bulldogs’ bench, the speedy Nikiforuk took matters into his own hands. He scored two goals in rapid succession, including one in which he displayed some masterful stickhandling. After a gutty performance that made Game Two close, the Bulldogs are still alive even though they face a 2-0 series deficit. It goes without saying that the home team is in a must-win situation tonight. “We’ve got a lot of great character kids in that room and there are a lot of guys that want to win, and a lot of want guys that want to beat Surrey,” Hillier summarized. “We’re coming back into Burnaby, back into our territory, and the guys are looking forward to taking those two games.”