Article Credit: Alessia Proietti, rdnewsNOW
Photo Credit: Scott Stimson, Blackfalds Bulldogs
The Blackfalds Bulldogs lost 5-4 to the Spruce Grove Saints in a close overtime game on Tuesday night at the Grant Fuhr Arena.
The Saints started the first period with two goals on Bulldogs goaltender Wilson Maxfield, the first by Alexander Babich at 4:54 and the second by Ryan Johnstone at 7:08. This put them 2-0 on the scoreboard.
But Blackfalds’ Jayden Joly cut the deficit in half when he scored a goal on his second attempt from a sharp angle below the goal line of Spruce Grove netminder Alexander Scheiwiller. His fifth goal this season, unassisted after rebounding off the boards, put them behind 2-1 at 16:43.
The Saints were slightly outshooting the Bulldogs 9-8 after 20 minutes of play.
The Bulldogs evened things out in the middle frame, with Hunter Brown scoring a goal on a deflection just 16 seconds in. His fourth goal of the season, assisted by Dakota MacIntosh and Alexander Dimitriadis, tied the game 2-2.
Past the halfway point, Ryan Harvey regained the lead 3-2 for Spruce Grove.
Once again, the Bulldogs evened the game towards the end at 15:45 when MacIntosh, tailgated by three Saints, scored a short-side goal. Dimitriadis and Brown got the helpers on his eighth goal this BCHL season, now a 3-3 game.
Spruce Grove once again outshot Blackfalds by one in the second period (12-11).
The Bulldogs kept it together in the final period when the Saints’ Ryder Matter took back the lead 4-3 at 11:54.
With just over three minutes left in regulation, Blackfalds’ Dimitriadis tipped in his fourth goal of the season from below the faceoff circle, evening the scoreboard to 4-4. With the help of Tanner Willick, the game was headed into overtime.
The Bulldogs had more shots on goal compared to the Saints in the third period (13-11).
With only the Saints having two shots on goal during the 10-minute overtime, Babich scored his second goal of the game at the midway mark, taking home a 5-4 win.
Shots on goal
BFB: 32
SGS: 34
Power play
BFB: 0/2
SGS: 1/2
McWilliam Auto Services Three Stars
1st: Alexander Babich (SGS) – 2G
2nd: Alexander Dimitriadis (SGS) – 1G, 2A
3rd: Dylan Ruptash (SGS) – 3A
The loss puts the Bulldogs in third place among Alberta teams in the BCHL with a record of 5-7-3-0, slightly ahead of the Saints in second place at 5-7-2-0.
The Bulldogs will return to home ice this Saturday for their final regular season game against Sherwood Park Crusaders. It’ll be 80s night at the Eagle Builders Centre, with puck drop at 6 p.m. and the broadcast live on Mixlr.
