Game No. 10 - Bucks vs. Bees

Sorry for the lack of posts earlier today; the end of high school football season is somehow busier than the beginning, and most of my day was spent dealing with that.

Meanwhile, here is my preview for tonight's game against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, which will start in about 20 minutes. You can also read the pre-game notes and Bryan Benway's preview.

I'm going to try to chill out with the live blogging tonight, because looking over some of my previous posts, I'm not sure if anyone would want to read through them in their entirety, at least in one sitting. I'll still post for goals and anything exciting that happens, but maybe not for every single thing. We'll see.

Starters: Bucks - Jeff Bes (F), Sebastien Centomo (G), Serge Dube (D), Mike Gooch (D), Rick Kozak (F), Darryl Smith (F); Bees - Nathan Ansell (D), Jesse Bennefield (F), Brian Bicek (F), Jesse Perrin (D), Wylie Rogers (G), Rob Voltera (F).

First Period: As per usual, you can follow the game live here. Or here. ... That Border Patrol agent overdid the anthem a little, but his voice was by far one of the best I've heard here. ... I guess someone is trying to set a tone tonight, because Kozak and Voltera went at it off the opening puck drop, something I had yet to see this season. Not sure if a winner could be declared because the refs pulled them apart before either could take the other down. ... Bucks have an early power play, as Ryan Shmyr is in the box for tripping Joey Olson. They're not doing much with it so far, though. ... A hooking call on Gooch followed by one for tripping on Trevor Weisgerber made it 4-0n-4, then Kurtis Dulle got a four-minute double minor for high sticking, so it is 4-on-3, then 5-on-4 for the Bucks. Jason Dixon and Bobby Moore headed for the dressing room following that high-sticking call. ... Bobby is back, but Dixon is not. Uh-oh. ... The Bucks got off a few slap shots on that advantage, but that's about it. If anything, it kind of seemed like the Bees controlled in spite of being a man down. ... Here we go again, as Daryl Moore has been called for cross checking. ... Bees got a chance of their own on a holding call against Steve Weidlich, but neither team has done anything with their chances yet as we head into the first intermission tied at zero. Bucks were 0-for-5 on the power play, while Bees were 0-for-3.

Second Period: Dixon is back out, seems he just needed some stitches on his chin. ... Dube has the Bucks on the board just 43 seconds into the middle period as he pushed a beautiful pass from Gooch past Rogers for the game's first goal. About time someone on the Bucks notice a puck coming right at their stick...but anyway. It was a nice goal. Bucks lead 1-0. .... Bennefield is in the box for holding, giving the Bucks the first power play of the second period. ... Bucks lead 2-0 now, as Dixon showed some superb puck handling in sneaking by a sprawled-out Rogers and not letting go until he knew he had it in the net. Uhhh, okay, the goal has been changed to Igor Agarunov. I guess he tapped it in from Rogers' left after Dixon let it go. Dixon obviously gets an assist. ... No sooner had the announcer finished reading off a Kurtis Dulle roughing penalty than the Bucks took a 3-0 lead on a power-play goal by Dube, his second score of the game. Bes and Adam Rivet get the assists. Either Rogers and the Bees are still focused on that first loss last night, or something else is messing with them, because they don't look quite right. Not to take anything away from Dube; it was a great slap shot, especially compared to the other ones the Bucks have taken in this game. ... Ryan Salvis has been sent to the box for interference, giving the Bees their first advantage of the period with 7:42 to play in it. ... Erick Lizon and Shmyr just had it out at center ice, and Lizon held his own. He actually landed more punches, but this one got broken up, too. ... This game is taking forever, and the Bucks are taking a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.

Third Period: Make that 4-0, as Dixon has scored one, for real this time. He almost missed a wide open net (Rogers was sprawled out in front) because his skate got caught in the ice, but he managed to send it home and add to the Bucks' lead. Bobby Russell fed it to him, and Alex Goupil gets the second assist. Speaking of Goupil, he's had a couple breakaway opportunities tonight and just hasn't been able to connect. He's still skating his butt off out there, but something seems a bit off about his game. ... I'm starting to wonder how many saves Centomo will have to make to get a shutout this season. Voltera just got the Bees on the board, scoring on an assist from Dulle. ... Uhhhh, I guess Dube took what Coach Ruskowski said about the team being soft seriously, because he just went after Perrin like nobody's business. I am truly in shock to have seen what I just saw, but hey, he wasn't half bad. The attack was apparent retaliation for a hit Perrin put on Bes. Dube has been escorted off the ice, assumably for an instigator penalty or something of the like. ... Apparently they gave him two for roughing and five for fighting, so with only 6:30 to play, that takes care of him for the rest of the game. ... Nope, now he has instigators and thensome. And Pointstreak is giving Bicek and Ansell assists on Voltera's goal. ... Bennefield just made it 4-2 on an assist from Zak McClellan, and assists have been added to some earlier goals. I'll try to clear all that up later. ... This is the first time I've seen Rogers play, and that is a bad thing for him, because he clearly could not have been like this previously. Yes, the defense is giving the Bucks a lot of chances, but yikes does he like to leave the net open. Dixon just psyched him out with a centering pass that I'm pretty sure Rogers thought was a shot, then Goupil had no problem sending into the top shelf. Maybe it's the dreaded Goaltender of the Month curse.

Game Over: Bucks win 5-2, improve to a division-leading 12 points (6-4-0). Bees fall to 5-1-1 11 pts.). That was a well-played game by the Bucks, but the Bees were not the Bees that I saw last week, nor the Bees that the Bucks had seen the first time they met this season.

Other Scores: Mississippi RiverKings 6, Wichita Thunder 2; Oklahoma City Blazers 4, New Mexico Scorpions 1; Odessa Jackalopes 5, Texas Brahmas 2; Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs 3, Rocky Mountain Rage 2 (SO); Tulsa Oilers 3, Amarillo Gorillas 1; Colorado Eagles 3, Rapid City Rush 1; Arizona Sundogs 3, Corpus Christi IceRays 2 (SO).

NHL Scores: Detroit Red Wings 2, New Jersey Devils 1; Boston Bruins 3, Buffalo Sabres 1; Washington Capitals 3, New York Rangers 1; Pittsburgh Penguins 4, New York Islanders 3 (SO); Columbus Blue Jackets 3, Calgary Flames 1; Tampa Bay Lightning 2, Philadelphia Flyers 1; Toronto Maple Leafs 6, Montreal Canadiens 3; Phoenix Coyotes 4, Florida Panthers 1; Colorado Avalanche 1, Nashville Predators 0; Vancouver Canucks 2, Minnesota Wild 0; San Jose Sharks 2, Dallas Stars 1; Los Angeles Kings 6, St. Louis Blues 3.