The Alberni Valley Bulldogs were doubled up by the opposition for a second-straight night to fall behind two games to none in their first-round playoff series.
The Nanaimo Clippers defeated the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 6-3 on Saturday night at Frank Crane Arena in Game 2, one night after an identical 6-3 result at Frank Crane in Game 1.
“It was a good game,” said Darren Naylor, Clippers coach. “They worked hard, they buried some chances on us, there were a couple lucky goals.”
The Bulldogs led the game by scores of 2-1 and 3-2, but the Clippers possessed the puck most of the second half of the game.
“I think we were pretty resilient,” said Devon Mussio, Clippers defenceman. “There was times when we went down, but we ended up coming back and it shows our character in our room right now.”
For Alberni Valley, Olivier Fizet, Ryan Doolin and Matthew Grouchy scored and Jackson Glassford made 38 stops.
For Nanaimo, Mussio and Josh Kagan had two goals each, Josh Bourne had a goal and four assists and Trevor LeDonne was the other scorer. Jordan Naylor made 30 saves for the win.
The Clippers coach said winning the first two games of the series is “a start.”
“You’ve got to win your home games, and it doesn’t become a series till you win one on the road, so we’ve got to go in there and we want to win that first one,” Darren Naylor said.
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In Game 1, Jacob Bosse scored twice for Alberni, Isaac Pascoal also tallied and Mattias Dal Monte had two assists. Glassford made 23 saves. For Nanaimo, Ethan Scardina and Bourne each had two goals and an assist and Steven Agriogianis and Tim Washe were other scorers. Jordan Naylor made 25 saves for the win.
GAME ON … The Bulldogs and Clippers play the next two games of the series at Port Alberni’s Weyerhaeuser Arena on Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m., and Thursday, March 5, also at 7 p.m. Game 5, if necessary, will be back at Nanaimo’s Frank Crane Arena on Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m.
Went to last night's Nanaimo Clippers playoff game as a fan and only took a few photos with my phone as the Clippers beat the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 6-3. Going again tonight, this time with a better camera. Faceoff is 7 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena. #GoClippers… pic.twitter.com/n0Ym7XhHBw
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) March 1, 2020
READ ALSO: Nanaimo Clippers goalie chosen his team’s MVP
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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