Though the IceRays fell to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees earlier this week and the Bucks beat the Killer Bees last night, all bets are off tonight, with the IceRays coming off a huge 2-1 win over the Southern Conference leading Odessa Jackalopes.
Greg Rajan has more on that game. I think Rick Gasser probably buys into my school of superstition now.
Obviously, the IceRays and Jackalopes both beat the Bucks last week, so the team is probably going to need to be much more consistent tonight than it was last night in order to win.
During last night's game, there were times that the Bucks really impressed me. Then there were times that I was kind of confused as to what they thought they were doing out there. Obviously, Coach Ruskowski saw the same things I did, and he expressed a similar confusion after the fact.
"As a team, there were times we played really well," he said. "But then there were times that I'm going, 'Which team is on the ice right now?' We have to be a more consistent team. We talked about what we have to do, and that's play better away from the puck. What you do with the puck is important, but it's also important how you position yourself away from it."
Ain't that the truth.
Ruskowski said he was impressed by the effort from the Killer Bees, who only have 14 skaters right now, and it was clear (though he did not say this) that they tired a bit by the end of it.
Hopefully tonight's game will be a little less timely than last night's, particular in the intermission department. Here is Bryan Benway's preview, and here are the Pointstreak pre-game notes.
Goalie-wise, we should expect to see rookie backup Ryan Gibb in net for the Bucks, and hopefully he won't have a 47-save performance wasted like last time he faced the IceRays. Dustin Traylen should get the call for the IceRays, as Kris Tebbs started for them last night. Of course, Sylvain Cloutier could choose to stick with Tebbs after he played such a strong game.
As was the case last night, the Bucks need to win to keep Ruskowski in the running for that All-Star game co-coaching spot. If the Killer Bees were to beat the Jackalopes, that would also help the cause...actually, I think it might be a necessity.
Since I haven't put records in all the rest of this, here are the current Southern Conference standings:
I tried doing them as text, but that just wasn't working out.
As you can see, the Bucks are still leading the Southeast Division and are now three points behind the Jackalopes for the conference lead. The game on Monday at the Killer Bees will also count toward the All-Star coaching decision.
I guess that's about all I have to say for now, but I'm quite curious to see what the crowd is like tonight with the Cowboys playing...
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