Bucks eye bounce-back effort after loss to Bulldogs

The Blackfalds Bulldogs shutout the Cranbrook Bucks 4-0 Friday (Oct. 30) at Western Financial Place.

Denis Kuzmenkov opened the scoring for Blackfalds with a power-play goal at 18:35 of the first period.

Krisjanis Sarts scored less than a minute later to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.

Kohyn Pipke extended Blackfalds’ lead at 4:02 of the second period. Nicholas DiPaolo added a power-play goal at 5:45 of the third.

Cranbrook goalie Keegan Carswell stopped 33 of 37 shots, while the Bulldogs’ netminder stopped all 24 shots he faced.

Cranbrook Bucks vs Blackfalds Bulldogs at Western Financial Place on Oct. 30, 2026. (Photo Credit: Simone Joseph – Pattison Media)

Bucks head coach Roshen Jaswal said the loss had less to do with structure than with “effort and engagement”.

“You got to show up, you got to be able to compete, you got to put the work in, otherwise games can kind of get away from you,” he said.

“They’re young kids, they understand that, or they don’t understand that you’ve won a few games and, they’re riding a high, but the work doesn’t stop and you got to compete every game. Otherwise, you know, this is too good of a league.

“If you don’t show up, then you have nights like this. So, yeah, good lesson for our guys, I would say.”

Jaswal said the team needs to regroup and focus on what they can control.

“I think this was an off night for us. And again, it comes down to things we can control, our effort, our compete, our engagement, our urgency, all those things,” he said.

“So, yeah, pretty disappointing night for us, but the nice thing with hockey is you get to play again tomorrow.”

Cranbrook Bucks vs Blackfalds Bulldogs at Western Financial Place on Oct. 30, 2026. (Photo Credit: Simone Joseph – Pattison Media)

Jaswal said the team has the “juice” to bounce back from an “off night”.

“Really hoping our team can bounce back and I think they will. They’re a strong group of kids, they’re resilient,” Jaswal added.

“I think just sometimes they need a little bit of a reminder that the game’s hard and you got to work hard to have success.”

“The effort has to be there, the compete has to be there, the, I call it juice, the juice has to be there.

“I mean, you can’t just show up and think good things are going to happen. You have to make them happen for yourself, not only in hockey, but in life.”

The Bucks travel to Okotoks to face the Oilers on Saturday (Oct. 31). Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Cranbrook Bucks vs Blackfalds Bulldogs at Western Financial Place on Oct. 30, 2026. (Photo Credit: Simone Joseph – Pattison Media)