On a Sunday

The Oklahoma City Blazers did the Bucks a favor today, beating the Texas Brahmas 7-3 to keep the Bucks alone atop the Southeast Division and Southern Conference standings.

Right now, the Bucks (10-4-0, 20 points) and Brahmas (9-4-1, 19) have each played 14 games, while the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (7-3-2, 16) and Corpus Christi IceRays (5-6-1, 11) have only played 12 apiece.

Last night's win was one the Bucks definitely needed as they have only one home game left before heading to Arizona to take on the defending champion Sundogs in two straight games, but it wasn't one they got decisively.

My game story that ran in today's Times features a lot of quotes from Coach Ruskowski in which he makes it very clear that he wasn't happy with the way his team played, and I certainly hadn't expected him to be.

Rookie backup goaltender Ryan Gibb had another solid performance; I'm pretty sure neither Bucks' goalie has had a bad one yet this season. Rick Kozak was also a force in the game; too bad that last slap shot had to hit Darryl Smith instead of the net.

When I was downstairs after the game last night, Smith was already in the locker room and not coming out, but someone told me he was fine other than some stitches. Bryan Benway gave a few more details on his blog today, and it seems Smith got 18 stitches on his ear. Ouch.

I doubt that Smith or Adam Rivet, who missed last night's game, will sit out on Tuesday night, but we'll see. I'll try to find out more at practice tomorrow.

Tuesday's game against the Mississippi RiverKings (8-7-0, 16) will feature a lot of familiar faces for both teams, as Bucks No. 1 netminder Sebastien Centomo and Kozak both played with the RiverKings last season and three former Bucks will be on the other side of the puck this time around.

Matt Summers is the most recent transfer, as he was traded to the RiverKings on Oct. 30. That was an emotional departure to say the least, so I'm sure he's going to want to play his best in front of the Laredo crowd.

Goaltender Kevin Beech, who started last season with the Bucks before being traded to the Youngstown Steelhounds, is also on the RiverKings roster these days, but there's no guarantee the Bucks will see him in net on Tuesday night, as is the case with the RiverKings and Centomo...though the latter is probably pretty likely.

The last name of note in the familiar faces game is winger Bobby Chaumont, who had a stellar rookie season with the Bucks before shipping off to Europe and is now a RiverKing.

That return would probably have been a bigger deal if his former linemate Chris Korchinski was still around, but that is not the case. In fact, Korchinski is no longer even with the team he started this season with, the Las Vegas Wranglers, as he has been traded to the Elmira Jackals.

But enough about that, as it will be the focus of my notebook/preview for the game, and back to today's game.

The Blazers completely destroyed the Brahmas in spite of being without No. 1 goaltender Andy Franck, who was injured in their 3-1 win over the Wichita Thunder on Saturday night. I guess the five power-play goals didn't hurt.

Franck wasn't the only league-leading netminder to suffer a "lower-body injury" yesterday, as the Vancouver Canucks' Roberto Luongo left their game Saturday with a groin injury, the severity of which has yet to be determined.

Back in the CHL, today's other game saw the Tulsa Oilers beat the Thunder 4-2.

In the NHL, the Nashville Predators beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3.