In the second round of the Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs, the Blackfalds Bulldogs are now facing elimination.
On Friday night with their backs against the wall, the Bulldogs are in a must-win situation against the Drumheller Dragons in the division semifinals.
Blackfalds lost a pivotal Game 4 on Wednesday that put them down three games to one in the series but head coach Doug Quinn said it’s not over yet.
He explained they’ve gotten off to slow starts, which he hopes to change when they host the Dragons at the Eagle Builders Centre at 7 p.m.
“It just feels like we’re kind of chasing all the time,” Quinn said.
“We just haven’t had that consistency. We play well for moments and you have opportunities then we have these breakdowns defensively and the pucks end up in our net. It’s been a frustrating few games so far.”
After the Bulldogs dropped an 8-5 loss in Game 1 last Friday, they responded with a 4-3 victory in overtime to tie the series 1-1 on Saturday. Since then, Blackfalds has lost two consecutive games 5-3 this week.
Quinn said Drumheller plays with a high level of intensity and work ethic. The Dragons’ top players led by Red Deer’s Ty Daneault with 13 points have done well but Quinn said it comes down to not defending well enough.
“We’ve given up some early goals which you know is hard and when you start chasing the game all the time it’s just hard,” he said.
“We’ve kind of battled back a couple of times and then a turnover it just seems like it ends up in our net. It’s something we just need to forget about and turn our attention and focus to the next game.”
Blackfalds Bulldogs Tyler Wallace has had a great postseason posting 13 points (eight goals and five assists) followed by Brett Meerman and Jason Siedem with 11 points.
There certainly hasn’t been a lack of scoring at times for the Bulldogs who have yet to score under three goals in a game in the second round.
“I want a more consistent effort and there have been times when our specialty teams haven’t been good,” he said.
“We were strong on the penalty kill throughout the regular season and in this series, we’ve given up a lot more goals than what we normally do.”
The Bulldogs will be without Connor Dick for the next three games after a video review by the league discovered Dick should have been given a major penalty and game misconduct for a hit to the head of a Dragons player.
They’ll also be without forwards Jayden Joly and Layne Loomer due to injury. Their injuries have been assessed to be day-to-day.
“We’re shorthanded but we still have depth on this team and still have a lot of skill. The biggest thing is we can’t worry about what’s happened we’re just going to have to turn our attention and focus on the next game,” Quinn said.
“For us, we just need to bring a consistent work ethic, get our forecheck going, maybe get a few more shots on net, and we need to defend better.
“One game at a time.”