By Shaelee Dombrowski
Country Night, presented by 89.5 JR Country, took over the Coliseum on Friday night as the Chiefs and Alberni Valley Bulldogs faced off for the second time this season. The matchup on the ice made for an exciting night of hockey, while local country music star Morgan Griffiths kept the energy going during the intermissions. Going into Friday’s game, Alberni Valley had the upper hand, taking their first matchup 5-1 back home and having a more successful last 10 games. Chilliwack, coming off a shootout win last weekend against the Surrey Eagles, needed to build some momentum.
Alberni Valley had a quick start, opening the scoring just one minute into the game after the Bulldogs’ Arman Adamyan buried his own rebound. Sam Thibault evened the score for the Chiefs shortly after with a goal of his own.
The Chiefs penalty killers had their work cut out for them in the middle frame after being assessed a double-minor. While most of Alberni Valley’s power play was spent in the Chiefs zone, Chilliwack’s David Di Girolamo stood strong in net, saving all seven shots faced while down a man. Despite the successful penalty kill, the Bulldogs regained their lead when a shot bounced off the post into the blue paint behind the Chiefs netminder, and a crashing Bulldogs player poked it in before Di Girolamo could reach it.
Both teams struggled to sustain offensive zone time early in the third period. A Chiefs power play changed that when Markuss Sieradzkis found the back of the net for his eighth power-play goal of the season, tying him for first in the league. Chilliwack kept the pressure on and took the lead for the first time when Luke Pilkington skated in from the blue line and sniped one past the Alberni Valley goaltender. The Bulldogs responded just a couple of minutes later, bringing the game back to even at three. The Chiefs dominated the shot count for the remainder of the third as they looked to get it done in regulation, but overtime was still needed.
It took just 26 seconds of overtime and one shot for the Chiefs to call game and secure the win. Peter Murray, with his first BCHL career goal, was the overtime hero after Justin Dumais picked up a loose puck in the corner after an offensive-zone faceoff and found Murray, who put it home top shelf. With his assist on Murray’s goal, Justin Dumais tallied his second of the game and seventh in his last four games. After missing nearly a month of games with an injury followed by illness, David Di Girolamo returned to the lineup and turned away 38 of the 41 shots he faced.
The Chiefs are back at the Chilliwack Coliseum tomorrow as they take on the conference-leading Prince George Spruce Kings at 6 pm for Wiener Dog Race Night, presented by CEFA Cottonwood.
Photo Credit: Darren Francis
