The plan, or hope, for the Victoria Grizzlies was to silence the Dog Pound.
Quieting the rabid Alberni Valley Bulldogs fans has been a specialty for Port Alberni natives, the Fitzgerald triplets — Myles, Gerry and Leo — as the Grizzlies’ No. 1 forward line has been a thorn in the paws of their Island Division opponents and supporters.
On Friday night, the trio had no answer and neither did their teammates as the Bulldogs collared the Grizzlies 4-0 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 tonight at the Weyerhaeuser Arena in Port Alberni. The series then returna to The Q Centre for Game 5 on Monday at 7:15 p.m.
On Friday, the Bulldogs set their teeth into Victoria’s backside and never let go.
For the second straight game the Grizzlies were outplayed by a team that had 16 fewer victories in the regular season.
“Our guys have to wake up and figure out how serious this is right now,” said Grizzlies head coach Craig Didmon. “We’re having trouble generating any offence right now.
“And they’re playing a real physical, dump and bang game with busy sticks that we’ve been having some trouble with.”
Bulldogs goaltender Connor LaCouvee has also been a thorn in the Grizzlies’ side as he turned aside all 33 shots he faced in front of a crowd of 1,248.
“We’ve been playing well at home. We get the fans on our side, get the crowd going and it helps us,” said LaCouvee, who has faced a ton of shots in three games, but that’s the way he likes it.
“I like to play a lot. I like the ice time and I like the shots,” he admitted.
After a scoreless first period Friday, the Bulldogs gave LaCouvee a 2-0 lead early in the second with goals 30 seconds apart from Tryg Strand and Justin Georgeson. Harlan Orr added a late second-period marker on goaltender Alec Dillon, who replaced Renyard to start in net for the Grizzlies. Hunter Stewart had the last Alberni goal.
The Bulldogs pounced on bad giveaways, a repeat from Game 2, and LaCouvee was perfect.
“I’m not sure if he’s inside our heads,” Didmon said when asked about LaCouvee’s performance. “He made some good saves today, but there was no traffic in front.”
IN THE DEN: Jaden Scmeisser (lower-body inury) remains out for Victoria and Brandon Egli was writing his SAT exam. Both defencemen are expected back tonight.
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