Game No. 13 - Bucks vs. Killer Bees

These Día de la Revolución sweaters are certainly something else...

No. 1 goaltender Sebastien Centomo is starting tonight, which, according to what Coach Ruskowski told me yesterday, means rookie backup Ryan Gibb will start on Saturday against the Amarillo Gorillas. Tonight is Ryan Shmyr's 600th professional game, apparently, so it's only fitting he will be on the ice to start it. For those of you watching on Nifty, Jaye Judd is wearing No. 15 instead of No. 5 tonight for whatever reason.

You can follow the game here...or here, as always.

Starters: Bucks - Igor Agarunov (F), Centomo (G), Erick Lizon (F), Adam Rivet (D), Ryan Salvis (F), Vincent Zaore-Vanie (D); Bees - Nathan Ansell (D), Brian Bicek (F), Robin Bouchard (F), Aaron Lee (F), Shmyr (D), Wylie Rogers (G).

First Period: Mayors Raul Salinas and Ramón Garza Barrios just dropped the ceremonial puck. They are joined in the crowd by the LBJ High School band and cheerleaders. ... When I saw that the Salvis line was starting the game, I assumed that meant a fight was in order, and I was right. Lizon and Shmyr dropped the gloves on the faceoff, and "Lazer" landed some mean shots. As Shmyr is being attended to by the Bees' trainer, I'd say Lizon, who is sitting smugly in the penalty box, won that one. Now Shmyr is getting taken off the ice. Kinda sucky way to start his 600th game. Lizon's sweater definitely took away from the street cred of that fight. ... Bees have a power play 55 seconds in thanks to a high-sticking call against Salvis. ... Daryl Moore just broke away from the play and almost had a one-on-one chance, but Serge Dube came out of nowhere to swipe the puck away from him. ... Bucks get a power play now on a slashing penalty against Evan Rankin. ... Whoever decided to put the cheerleaders right in front of the press box and the band right next to us is not my friend tonight. ... Apparently Sid just scored an "absolutely ridiculous" goal. I hope someone puts it on YouTube. ... Both power plays were killed, and shots are tied at six with 10 minutes to go in the period. ... Rick Kozak just scored at 10:43, coming right out of an official timeout. Pretty nice puck handling by Kozak on that one. Jeff Bes gets the assist. Seriously, these cheerleaders are killing me. ... I can't even keep track of anything with how distracting these jerseys are, but supposedly Dube just scored a goal. Just kidding; he did. Rogers was on the outer left edge of the crease, and Dube was easily able to slap it from the right circle into the empty net. As Kurtis Dulle had just been sent to the box for holding, that was a power-play score. Unassisted, apparently. ... Fists are starting to randomly fly everywhere the puck goes. Oh boy. ... Bees are going on their second power play as Bobby Russell was just called for interference. ... That penalty was killed, and the Bucks lead 1-0 heading into the first intermission. Centomo made some nice saves in the last few seconds there.

Second Period: During the intermission, assists popped up on that second goal, going to Rivet and Russell. ... Bees get another early power play, as Devin Featherstone was called for "holding the stick" just about 75 seconds into the period. ... Salvis just broke away from the pack, but a slashing penalty by Nicolas Dumoulin prevented him from doing much with it. It'll be 4-on-4 for46 seconds , then a Bucks' power play for 1:14. ... I have yet to see a goal get scored against Centomo this season that wasn't one for the highlight reel. Bouchard just grabbed a tough rebound from a shot by Jesse Bennefield and "banged it home," as they say. Very nice-looking goal. Bucks lead 2-1. ... Forgot to mention this earlier, but Shmyr came back out to the Bees' bench about midway through the first period. I haven't noticed him skate a lot of shifts, but that could just be another side effect of the Bucks' sweaters. ... Jason Dixon got a nice one-on-one chance, but Ansell poked the puck away. There have been some pretty decent defensive stops in this game. ... Bucks just got a great chance as Joey Olson took a good shot on net, which was stopped by Rogers, then Agarunov grabbed the rebound and hit the right post with his shot. ... First penalty in about 10 minutes was just called, putting Featherstone in the box for tripping. ... And now it is tied 2-2 on a power-play goal by Trevor Weisgerber. ... Well, that was just bizarre. Alex Goupil just hacked the puck from between the circles into the top shelf for the most nonchalant goal I may have ever seen...at least from him. Knocked the water bottle off the net, though. Bucks lead 2-1, Russell with the assist. ... Featherstone just took a shot that dropped Rogers to the ice, but he made the save. Now Dixon is headed to the box for interference with 3:51 to play in the middle period. Bucks killed that penalty and now get a power play of their own as Dumoulin has been called for hooking. ... The Bucks are taking shot after shot on Rogers, and he is stopping them all. End of the period; Bucks lead 3-2.

Third Period: Assists have been added to Weisgerber's goal; they go to Ansell and Dulle. ... Bees get the first power play of the period yet again, as Kozak has been sent to the box for hooking. Took a whole 2:34 this time. ... A high-sticking call against Bicek makes it 4-on-4 for now. Bucks will get a 1:33 power play when Kozak gets out of the box. ... I love it when skters randomly end up literally in the net. ... Salvis and Jay Hardwick just got tangled up and took a tumble, resulting in a holding call against Salvis and putting the Bees on their seventh power play. ... Goupil just broke away to draw a hooking call against Rankin and make it 4-on-4 for 1:11, then a Bucks' power play for 49. ... Another penalty, this one against Dulle, just 18 seconds later gives the Bucks a 4-on-3, then a 5-on-3. ... Rogers just knocked his own net off the posts but isn't getting called for it, which has elicited some boos from the crowd. Honestly, he looked to be following the puck, which was shot over his head into the netting, and I'm not sure that was intentional. Guess the refs feel the same way. ... The Bucks actually just had a 5-on-2 1/2 chance, but a stickless Lee blocked a shot with his body to keep this thing tied. Nice display of the fearlessness. ... Bees somehow killed that and now have a power play of their own as Goupil has been called for slashing. ... Bucks have taken a 4-2 lead on a goal by Darryl Smith, assisted by Kozak. I was just starting to think my streak of players I spoke to before games scoring in them was going to end, but guess not. Smart money says Bes will get an assist on that one by the end of the night. Rogers really seems to never be square in the net when the Bucks score against him; I wonder if Coach Chris Brooks will start Christian Boucher next time these teams face off (Dec. 4, by the way). ... Someone definitely did something to tick Travis Banga off beyond belief, because after getting pulled up off the ice following a scuffle with Kozak, he was fighting with a linesman. The remaining 48 seconds sure are taking a long time. All the penalties are a bit confusing, so I'll clear that up after I write my story.

Game Over: Bucks win 4-2, improve to 9-4-0 (18 points) and keep their Southeast Division and Southern Conference leads.

Other Score: Blazers 3, Gorillas 2.

NHL Scores: Devils 3, Panthers 1; Penguins 3, Thrashers 2; Canadiens 3, Senators 2 (SO); Canucks 3, Wild 2; Blackhawks 6, Stars 3; Flames 1, Avalanche 0; Red Wings 4, Oilers 3; Kings 5, Capitals 2.