Game No. 29 - Bucks at Rage

Time for the third game in the Rocky Mountains in less than three days...

Two questions: Why does the Bucks' channel on Nifty play the home broadcaster when they are on the road lately? And, why is the video feed from the Broomfield Events Center so dark? Oh well.

First Period: Sebastien Centomo and Scott Reid are your starting goaltenders. ... Not much going on in the first five minutes...other than the Nifty feed getting lost twice already. Bucks are up 3-2 on shots. ... Just in case I get distracted, you can follow the box score here. ... The Rage broadcaster just mentioned that they can improve to .500 for the first time this season with a win this afternoon. I guess that was obvious enough, but I hadn't registered it previously. ... I'm not even going to bother trying to watch this because the video feed is so messed up, but I'll continue listening. Do the rest of you have these issues with Nifty all the time? ... Centomo is 6-0 with a 1.64 goals-against average against the Rage all-time. I'm not sure if their broadcaster is trying to jinx him or what, but that's interesting. He's been awful in his career against the Eagles but still started Friday night. I wonder if Coach Ruskowski took all that stuff into consideration at all. ... Simon Watson has been called for tripping at 11:54 to put the Bucks on the first power play of the game. ... The Bucks were able to take a 2-man advantage with Centomo out of net on a delayed elbowing call against Jarred Mohr. They'll now get a 22-second 5-on-3, then continue on the power play for 1:38. ... Bucks didn't do anything with that or the rest of the period, so this one's headed into the first intermission in a scoreless tie. Quote of the period: "Bucks, again, trouble going D-to-D in front of their own net."

Second Period: There wasn't much going on in the first couple minutes, but Scott Wray has now given the Rage a 1-0 lead on his ninth goal of the season at 2:51 in the period. The score came on the Rage's 10th shot of the game, which evened things up shot-wise. Nick Harloff and Simon Watson had the assists. ... Bobby Russell has been called for hooking to put the Rage on their first power play of the game at 6:11 in the period. ... Jason Dixon is headed to the box for tripping to give the Rage a 5-on-3 for 1:31. ... The Rage couldn't capitalize on that but still lead 1-0 a little over halfway through the period. They've outshot the Bucks 11-3 so far in this one. ... Matt Miller has his first point as a Buck after knocking in a rebound from a shot by Russell after an odd-man rush by the Bucks. Ryan Salvis gets the second assist on the score, which came at 13:01 in the period. Game's tied 1-1. ... Why does the Nifty feed never show fights? Well, not that it would work anyway. Miller just dropped the gloves with Rob Chappell, and the Rage broadcaster doesn't seem to know why, nor is he making it clear who won. ... Yeesh on the penalties here. Apparently Scott Reid slashed Miller, then Miller speared him in response, then Chappell came in to defend his goalie and picked up a few penalties. Pointstreak still hasn't posted all of them, but Chappell and Miller were both sent to their team's dressing rooms. ... I guess Centomo was as lost in all that as I was because as soon as play began, he left the net open for Colt King to knock in a power-play score. David Morelli and Watson had the assists. ... Geeze louise, now Alex Goupil has slashed Mike Bulawka to put the Rage back on the advantage for nearly the rest of the period. ... The Rage will take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. I'll post all those penalties as soon as Pointstreak does. ... Okay, Chappell got a 2-minute slashing call, five for fighting and a 10-minute instigator misconduct, and Reid got a slashing minor, while Miller got a spearing double-minor (four minutes), a slashing minor and a fighting major. ... Bucks were doubled on shots in that period, with the Rage outshooting them 18-9.

Third Period: Nifty seriously hates my guts. ... Daymen Rycroft has taken a slashing call for his actions against Goupil, putting the Bucks on their first power play since the first period. ... The game is tied 2-2 now...but everyone seems confused as to who actually scored. Okay, guess it was Erick Lizon, giving him his second of the weekend and of the season. Russell is getting the lone assist on that power-play score, which came at 4:47 in the period. ... Salvis just got called for interference in the Bucks' offensive zone to put the Rage on their first power play of the period immediately following Miller's departure from the penalty box. ... Nathan ONabigon has earned a high-sticking double-minor, drawing blood from a Bucks' player...but the Rage broadcaster won't say who. The Bucks will get a 4-minute power play from this one, but I'm not sure how much time is left as the Pointstreak people in Broomfield seem to be on their lunch break. ... Okay, I guess there are about five to play now that the Bucks failed to capitalize on that advantage. How 'bout them Cowboys, eh? ... The Bucks just had an empty-net chance, but Moore blocked a shot to send the game into overtime and assure his team at least one point out of the afternoon. I'm sure the Bucks are thrilled to be playing another OT with the bus ride back to Laredo looming, but at least this time it doesn't mess with my deadline!

Overtime: Tyler Butler sent the puck from the blue line, then Morelli grabbed the rebound from Centomo's save and sent it into the top shelf. The bus ride back here is going to be the longest ride of these players' lives.

Game Over: Rage win 3-2 in overtime, improving their record to 13-13-2 (28 points). Bucks fall to 18-8-3 (39 pts.), having lost four in a row. That hasn't happened in a while. Considering the fact that Ruskowski told me after Monday's loss that he cannot handle losing, he can't be very happy right now. Taking the last two games into extra time did get them two points for the weekend, but that probably doesn't mean much to them at this point.

Other Scores: Scorpions 2, Jackalopes 1.

NHL Scores: Bruins 2, Thrashers 1; Blackhawks 4, Wild 1; Ducks 4, Blues 3; Capitals 4, Maple Leafs 1; Oilers 5, Predators 2; Canucks 3, Senators 0.