Game Day No. 20

It's hard to believe that when tonight's game is done the Bucks (14-5-0, 28 points) will be practically 1/3 of the way through this regular season.

But that is the case, and I'm sure they're hoping to carry their momentum from last night's 5-3 win over the Arizona Sundogs (8-13-1, 17 pts.) into tonight's game against the Texas Brahmas (12-6-1, 25 pts.) at NYTEX Sports Centre.

I only spoke to Coach Ruskowski after the game last night because the players needed to shower and get right on the bus for their 8-hour trip to North Richland Hills; here is my game story.

Obviously, the team kind of let up a bit in the third period, but luckily they were already ahead by enough to hold on and win. I'd say they dominated that game thoroughly in spite of the final score only reflecting a 2-goal differential.

Ruskowski cited improved defensive play as a big factor in the game, and I'd definitely have to agree with him. Rookie Devin Featherstone was especially impressive, blocking shots and clearing the puck several times during power plays and other chances for the Sundogs.

Interestingly enough, Ruskowski said he hadn't really paid attention to who was scoring the goals, though he admitted player/assistant coach Jeff Bes and rookie center Darryl Smith are clearly "hot" right now and he hopes to see them stay that way.

The more important thing to him, though, is how hard everyone was working, and he said the first two periods of last night's game displayed a very good, strong effort by everyone on the ice.

But back to Bes and Smith...they lead the league in scoring and rookie scoring, respectively, and also in assists and goals, respectively. Well, Smith is tied for the lead in goals, but those are still impressive feats.

Smith's youth is obvious only in his postgame celebrations because he seems as comfortable as can be with Bes on the ice; well, with anyone, for that matter. This tandem is pretty unstoppable right now, so we'll see how long they can keep that up.

Meanwhile, the Brahmas pulled off an impressive 4-0 win over the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs last night, so they come into tonight with plenty of their own momentum, and no bus lag. Brahmas goalie David Cacciola saved all 36 shots he faced, so I imagine the Bucks might be seeing him tonight.

Bucks No. 1 Sebastien Centomo had 22 saves on 25 shots last night to collect his 70th career CHL victory, but I'm not sure if Ruskowski is going to want to use him two nights in a row after the long bus ride and considering he had a slight problem with his hamstring last weekend. We'll see.

The other two Southeast teams faced off against each other last night, and the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (9-6-2, 20 pts.) managed to come back from two 3-point defecits to defeat the Corpus Christi IceRays (7-8-2, 16 pts.) by a score of 5-4 in overtime.

Brian Sandalow and Greg Rajan were both at the game and obviously looked at things from opposite sides of the spectrum, as Sandalow witnessed a rousing comeback he thinks could spark the Killer Bees to return to their winning ways and Rajan saw a "horrible meltdown"that has made him lose faith in the safety of 3-goal leads.

The Killer Bees and IceRays are both back in action tonight, as the former host the Sundogs in the final game of their South Texas road trip and the latter is in Odessa for a game against the Jackalopes (13-5-2), who are currently tied with the Bucks atop the Southern Conference. So I guess the IceRays had a longer (and most definitely less enjoyable) road trip than the Bucks did last night, as Bryan Benway didn't seem to have a bad time...other than the lack of sleep.

Also on the Bucks' Web site, you can read about last night's game, tonight's game, the toy drive last night and the technical difficulties with Nifty TV that plagued the LEC for the past couple games...well, just last night, according to them, but I know the Killer Bees' feed wasn't working on Thursday. Let's hope the NYTEX feed is better, though I have off today, so I might be going out to watch the fight instead of live blogging tonight's contest. Of course, you can always follow it on Pointstreak if Nifty is being problematic. Oh, and here are the pre-game notes.

Tonight's other CHL games have the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs at the Wichita Thunder, the Oklahoma City Blazers at their in-state rival Tulsa Oilers, the Rocky Mountain Rage also keeping it in-state for a matchup with the Colorado Eagles, the Mississippi RiverKings at the Rapid City Rush for the second night in a row, and the Amarillo Gorillas at the New Mexico Scorpions, also for the second time in as many nights.

NHL-wise, the Ottawa Senators beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Jason Spezza's hat trick (one goal was really scored by Pens defenseman Kris Letang's skate) in today's afternoon game. Ugh.

Tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks are at the Detroit Red Wings, the Washington Capitals are at the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Atlanta Thrashers are at the New York Islanders, the Boston Bruins are at the Florida Panthers, the New Jersey Devils are at the Montreal Canadiens, the Philadelphia Flyers are at the Carolina Hurricanes, the Buffalo Sabres are at the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Minnesota Wild are at the Nashville Predators, the Phoeniex Coyotes are at the St. Louis Blues, the Edmonton Oilers are at the San Jose Sharks, and the Columbus Blue Jackets are at the Los Angeles Kings.