Game No. 28 - Bucks at Rage

Sorry; no "Game Day" blog for this one. I work tomorrow, so I'll catch up on everything then, at least on football commercial breaks.

The Bucks and Rocky Mountain Rage will face off in a couple minutes here, while plenty of other games have already begun aroudn the CHL and NHL. I'd say if the Bucks don't win this one, Coach Ruskowski will definitely be itching to make some moves.

You can read Bryan Benway's preview or check out the Pointstreak pre-game notes for some more info.

First Period: In spite of coming in to play the third period of last night's loss, Ryan Gibb is indeed starting in net for the Bucks. ... The Bucks survived an early penalty on a tripping call against Adam Rivet just 1:40 into the game. ... The Rage took five shots before the Bucks took one, according to Poinstreak. ... Rage are on the board first, as David Morelli directed a feed from Colt King past Gibb at 7:38. Pat Sutton had the second assist. ... The top line has finally come through again for the Bucks, as Rick Kozak has tied it at 10:48 in the period on assists from Darryl Smith and Jeff Bes. ... Previously, Matt Miller had given the Rage their second power play on a hooking call, while Scott Wray gave the Bucks their first with an interference penalty. No dice for either team on the advantage. ... Bucks are back on the power play with a tripping call against Mike Bulawka at 13:56 in the period. ... Mike Gooch just dropped the gloves with Daymen Rycroft. Interesting. ... Bucks will end the period on a power play and start the third with the last 34 seconds of the advantage barring a score here as Tyler Butler has been called for holding. ... Nothing doing there; score tied 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

Second Period: Not much going on in Broomfield as far as I can tell without audio/video, but the story in Loveland seems to be a bit different. ... Jason Dixon has given the Bucks the lead on his second goal in as many nights, this one assisted by Steve Weidlich at 7:30 in the period. According to the box score, Bucks are trailing 16-14 on shots, but they lead 2-1 where it matters. ... The Scorpions were leading the Eagles 3-0 when I said what I just did, and now they lead 4-0 on Mark Messier's son's first CHL goal. Yeesh. I am trying really hard to believe I won't be jinxing them; we all know the Eagles could stage a comeback without my help. ... Okay, 4-1. Whoops. ... Bulawka has taken the first penalty of the period, a roughing call at 9:59 to put the Bucks on their fourth power play. ... Smith took a high-sticking double-minor less than a minute later to negate that advantage and give the Rage one of their own, but Rob Chappell's holding penalty not much later evened things up for a while. Ryan Salvis then took a stick-holding penalty at 18:17, but the Bucks, with some help from Kai Magnussen and his roughing call at 19:13, have escaped the second period with their 2-1 lead.

Third Period: Bulawka has tied it up for the Rage at 6:55 in the period on a goal assisted by Morelli and Butler. The Rage lead 23-20 on shots. ... A slashing call against Pat Sutton gave the Bucks the first power play of the period at 10:44, but they fell to 0-for-8 on the advantage as the Rage killed it. ... The Rockets and Spurs are both in double-OT, and the Bucks are still tied here with under a minute to play. I hate these nights when I'm on desk.

Overtime: G-darnit. Someone score, please. ... Oh, how nice; this is the first night there were ever two double-OT NBA games in the state of Texas. And no one scored in Broomfield in the OT.

Shootout: Sorry for the delay in this, but the Rage won the shootout, with Smith, Bes and Salvis being stopped by Marty Magers. Kozak had the Bucks' lone goal. Gibb, who seems his shakiest in these shootout situations, gave up goals to Morelli, former Buck Brent Cullaton and King, while stopping Wray. Cullaton's score turned out to be the game-winner, and I'm sure he was thrilled. Barring a total destruction of the Rage by the Bucks tomorrow afternoon, I'd say Brent's dad may be bragging about this one for a while.

Game Over: Rage win 3-2. Bucks fall to 18-9-1 (37 points), while the Rage improve to 9-12-7 (25 pts.). I don't know much about how the Bucks played in this one due to technical difficulties and a busy deadline, but they were outshot 30-26 and went 0-for-9 on the power play while holding the Rage to 0-for-6. The Scorpions did end up beating the Eagles, by the way, thanks in part to a hat trick by Chris Robertson, who was out with an injury, and thus sitting next to me in the press box, when the Bucks hosted the Scorpions a few weeks ago.

Other Scores: IceRays 2, Mudbugs 1; Thunder 5, Killer Bees 2; Jackalopes 7, Gorillas 3; Brahmas 4, Blazers 3; RiverKings 5, Oilers 3; Sundogs 2, Rush 1; Scorpions 6, Eagles 4.

NHL Scores: Blue Jackets 3, Flyers 0; Canadiens 3, Penguins 2; Bruins 4, Hurricanes 2; Sabres 4, Islanders 3 (SO); Devils 4, Rangers 2; Lightning 6, Panthers 4; Stars 4, Ducks 3 (OT); Blues 3, Sharks 2 (SO); Kings 4, Coyotes 0; Avalanche 4, Red Wings 3 (SO); Flames 6, Senators 3.