Alberni Valley will return to the Weyerhaeuser Arena on Thursday night with a chance to advance to the Fred Page Cup Finals after the Bulldogs pulled off their second straight road victory in Powell River with a convincing 4-1 win on Tuesday night.
The visitors received contributions from a number of key players in the win, which puts Alberni Valley up 3-1 in the series. Mitch MacMillan opened the scoring on the power play with five minutes remaining in the opening period, putting home a pass from the game’s first star, Ryan Renz, and second star David Dziurzynski to give his Bulldogs the early lead.
The team's playoff points leader, Dziurzynski, then popped an unassisted goal past Josh Watson at the 10-minute mark of the middle frame, increasing the advantage to 2-0 before the floodgates opened. Renz and Robert Lindores then scored two minutes apart, including a goal on the power play to make it a four-goal cushion.
The Kings, who outshot the Bulldogs 15-9 in the middle frame, kept battling into the final period and were rewarded with a goal 3:21 into the third. Brenden Forbes broke Frank Slubowski's shutout bid to put Powell River on the board, but the Bulldogs' starter was stellar the rest of the night in stopping 31 shots.
While the Bulldogs travel home a happy bunch, the Kings will face elimination for the first time this postseason on Thursday and need to win three straight to take the series.
