Preseason Game No. 1

Pre-Game Notes: Coach Ruskowski is in the stands, with team president John Beckelhymer at his side, watching the game and taking notes while Serge Dube, Adam Rivet and another man I cannot identify from up here are behind the bench. ... Igor Agarunov is wearing the captain's "C," and Alex Goupil has an "A." ... Agarunov, Jason Dixon, Devin Featherstone, Goupil and Jordan Pawelec are the starting five for the Bucks, while Ryan Gibb is starting in goal and should stay there for about half the game. ... Forward Lee Aaron, right wing Jesse Bennefield, goaltender Christian Boucher, defenseman Nicolas Dumoulin, right wing Edgar James and defenseman Jesse Perrin are on the ice for Rio. ... Dixon and Aaron are taking the faceoff... You can follow the game stats live here.

First Period: That was one of the fastest periods I've ever witnessed (less than half an hour real time). ... The Bees are up 1-0 on a goal by rookie forward Zak McClellan. Rookie forward Shawn Houde and rookie defenseman Cody Cole had the assists. ... The shot tally reads Bucks 15-Bees 14, but I don't buy that for a second. Gibb has stopped a lot of shots, including plenty on the rebound. That goal came with him sprawled on the ice with all of the Bees on top of him after he had blocked several shots in a row. He had an impressive glove save on a breakaway late in the period. ... The game has been fairly sloppy so far, as can be expected. The Bucks have had three penalties, including one for having too many men on the ice. The Bees have had two. All of these penalties have been pretty careless ones, and though there have been a couple of shoving matches, no one has dropped the gloves yet. ... Coach headed down to the locker room as the final seconds ticked off the clock. Wonder what he's telling the guys.

Second Period: Mike Collichio is making Gibb look great right now. He came in with just over 10 minutes to play in the period and allowed three goals before the horn sounded. Two of the scores came on the power play. ... Bright spots for Laredo have included Darryl Smith, who is very fast and has incredible brakes, and Amory Mudrewich, the only defenseman who has skated all of his shifts but not been on the ice for a goal. ... In a moment you will probably never see again, Goupil and Bees forward Jesse Bennefield dropped the gloves at center ice. Even more surprisingly, the 5-foot-8 Goupil took Bennefield, who is four inches taller, down in about 20 seconds. The night's first fight had come at about the halfway point in the period (and the game) as Hand finally got to show his stuff against Bees rookie James Edgar. Hand was the unquestionable victor and brought the entire (albeit small) crowd to its feet. ... Travis Banga, Brandon Hammermeister and Jesse Perrin have scored for the Bees. Dumoulin and Mark Stockdale, Bennefield and Cole and Trevor Weisgerber and Jay Hardwick had the assists, respectively. ... The Bucks are 0-for-5 on the power play. ... Boucher has stopped all 33 shots he's faced, but Richard could have had him with one shot late in the period, if only it hadn't hit the post. ... Coach was joined by two young fans in the stands after Beckelhymer's departure during the intermission.

Third Period: Matt Summers has the Bucks on the board with 18:54 to play. Ryan Fuller and Mike Richard on the assists. Brett Hopfe and Cole dropped gloves after the goal, with the Bucks improving to 3-0 in fights this evening. ... It's 4-2 with 11:32 to go on a goal by Erick Lizon, assisted by Kevin Hurley and Hopfe. The goal was initially credited to Hurley, on the assumption that he had tipped in Lizon's shot, but they quickly changed that. ... Coach seems to have changed his location for the final period, as he is nowhere to be found in Section 203. ... Dumoulin picked a fight with Summers, who was a good sport and took his punches while throwing out a few of his own. Fighting is definitely not the kid's forte, but he did a great job and stood strong in spite of getting his helmet ripped off while Dumoulin kept his placed firmly on his head. I'd call it a tie, at worst. ... Hammermeister got an empty-netter with 1:33 to play and (obviously) Collichio off the ice. Bees lead 5-2. ... Game over, same score. As we all know, the score isn't the most important thing about the preseason games, but I'm not sure Coach will be too thrilled. Time to find out about that.