Game No. 23 - Bucks at Jackalopes

You can follow the game here, listen here or get some updates right here...

First Period: Sebastien Centomo and Alexandre Vincent are in net for their respective teams. ... Things seem to have gotten off to a physical start, as rookie defenseman RRyan James Hand was called for roughing just 1:18 in the game, and now Rick Kozak has gotten a spearing double minor and a fighting major at 7:25 for his clash with Dave Van Drunen, who received only the fighting penalty. ... Thanks to those penalties, a slashing call against Steve Weidlich and a tripping call on Igor Agarunov, the Bucks have already given the high-powered Jackalopes five power plays. Nothing doing, though. The Bucks are now on their second of the game, as Josh Chase is in the box for tripping. Kory Karlander gave them their first, also for tripping, at 6:41 in the game. ... Still no scoring, but the Jackalopes are on another power play as rookie defenseman Jaye Judd has been called for high sticking. Judd is back in the lineup after missing Thursday's loss, but suspiciously enough, Serge Dube is not. Interesting. ... Whoops. Of course the Jackalopes opened up the scoring on that advantage. Dominic Leveille scored the goal on an assist from Mike Ramsay. Pointstreak has the shots at 13-3 in the Jacks' advantage. I hope they aren't hanging Centomo out to dry the way they did with Gibb in the first two periods on Thursday. ... I always miss all the fights. Erick Lizon and Garrett Gruenke just had at it. Wonder who won. ... End of the period, Jackalopes lead 1-0. I'll give Pointstreak a minute to update before I post the shot numbers. ... Okay, the assists have been changed on that goal; Colin Circelli and Brian Swiniarski get 'em. And I guess the shots are right at 14-4 in the Jacks' favor. ... Make that 16-4. ... Sam Bradford just won the Heisman, yay. Not that I really care about him, but anyone who beats Tim Tebow is gold in my book.

Second Period: Just to warn you, I'm going to get distracted by the broadcast of the "Greatest Game Ever Played." ... Nothing much seems to be happening in the first five minutes of this period. ... Okay, something must have happened to Vincent, because Dan McWhinney is suddenly in his first game with the Jackalopes. ... Bucks have killed their first penalty of the period, a tripping call against Alex Goupil. ... Seems Kozak is losing his temper a bit out there. He just got roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Phillippe Plante got a matching unsportsmanlike call, but the Jacks still get a power play out of this. ... Seems something really did click for the IceRays the other night; they're up 4-0 on on the Gorillas (who, though often terrible, did beat the Eagles last night) less than halfway through the second. Three of their goals came on the power play. ... Well, the Jackalopes converted on that one, with Ramsay scoring on assists from Russ Moyer and Karlander, and immediately got another on a Weidlich hooking call. Oh boy. They lead 2-0. ... Bucks head into the second intermission down 2-0 in goals and 29-10 in shots. However, Mike Lesperance got called for slashing with just seven seconds to play in the middle period, so the Bucks will open the third with nearly a full power play. Let's see if they can do anything with it.

Third Period: Okay, sorry; I actually got distracted by doing work. The Bucks did not score on that power play, but did get on the board 12 seconds after it expired, as Goupil netted his 13th of the season on assists from Joey Olson and Mike Gooch. The Jackalopes struck back a few minutes later with another power-play goal, this one from Jeff Pierce assisted by Moyer and Sebastien Thinel. That opportunity was created by a hooking call against Devin Featherstone. Shots are 35-13 at this point. ... If Pointstreak is correct, Hand has scored his first CHL goal to bring the Bucks within 3-2 with 5:19 to play in the game. Goupil and Olson had the assists on another goal that came not long after a power play ended.

Game Over: Jackalopes win 3-2, improve to 17-5-2 (36 points) and hold their Southern Conference lead. Bucks fall to 15-6-1 (33 pts.). The players are all thrilled to be getting their Christmas break tomorrow, I'm sure, but Ruskowski is probably pretty upset he promised it to them. They came up with a lot of shots late to close the gap to 35-24, but they clearly got off to a poor start. I wonder how many of those penalties Coach Ruskowski will think were unnecessary.

Other Scores: RiverKings 4, Brahmas 3 (SO); Rage 1, Thunder 0 (SO); Oilers 5, Blazers 3; IceRays 7, Gorillas 1; Scorpions 4, Killer Bees 2; Rush 5, Mudbugs 2; Eagles 7, Sundogs 5.

NHL Scores: Flyers 6, Penguins 3; Kings 3, Wild 1; Bruins 4, Thrashers 2; Blue Jackets 3, Islanders 1; Sabres 4, Devils 2; Capitals 2, Canadiens 1; Senators 2, Lightning 0; Rangers 3, Hurricanes 2 (SO); Predators 3, Stars 0; Coyotes 4, Red Wings 3; Oilers 3, Canucks 0; Sharks 5, Blues 4.