First Period: Hopefully everyone is late, because there are definitely no more than 5,000 people in their seats right now. The Bucks aren't actually using the pink sticks, so that is a major disappointment...though probably the most logical thing to do. Coach Ruskowski is wearing his "Pink in the Rink" jersey over his shirt and tie. ... The Igor Agarunov-Jason Dixon-Alex Goupil line is back together; we'll see if they can do anything tonight. No fight on the faceoff, just FYI. ... I had almost forgotten how much I love the name Pszenyczny. ... I just updated the Pointstreak scoreboard to find that the Mississippi RiverKings-Tulsa Oilers game that was tied at 0 for the first 12 minutes is now a 3-0 RiverKings' lead. Matt Summers scored the first goal and has assists on the other two. ... Make that 4-0. ... Pretty good pace so far on this game but neither team has been able to create a spectacular scoring opportunity. Rick Kozak is in full-on tough guy mode, but not in a bad way, so we'll see how that plays out. ... Oh my gosh, Steve Cruickshank's arm bands are bright pink. Super cool. ... The Bucks just turned the puck over literally feet away from the net, but Centomo stopped the shot for his third save so far. Bucks have taken two shots. ... Kozak just put a nice hit on Angel on the boards across from the Mudbugs' bench. I can't say that's a fight I'd mind watching. ... Well, the Bucks finally seem to have gotten Ruskowski's memo about being "soft," but we'll see how long that lasts. They aren't doing it stupidly like they have in some games, but they are going after their hits and for the most part finishing them. Of course, we're less than halfway through the first period, so nothing's set in stone just yet. ... Darryl Smith just made a great effort to win the puck on the boards and take it up behind the Mudbugs' net. Jeff Bes was not where he expected him to be, though, so the centering pass just slid out to the blue line, where the Mudbugs took it back.
First penalty of the game at 11:04 in the period, not bad. Paul is headed to the box for cross-checking Dixon, who did a good job to earn the call. ... That was about the longest 2-minute power play ever due to a whole bunch of pucks going out of play. The Bucks were not able to score, but they took some decent shots and kept the puck in their offensive zone, so it wasn't bad. Back to even strength with 6:56 to play in the period. ... The Mudbugs have gotten tangled up with Centomo a few times already, and Cruickshank certainly isn't cutting him any breaks with the whistle. The Mudbugs just had a pretty good chance, but Centomo fought them for it and kept the game scoreless as it heads into the final 3:30 of the period. ... Bes just had his stick break and made the mistake of keeping the shaft in his hand, resulting in a penalty...a "broken stick" penalty, of course. I didn't see him try to play the puck with it, but oh well. ... Goupil stole the puck with approximately three seconds on the clock and still skated his butt off to chase it down. I guess he probably didn't know exactly how much (or little) time was left, but it's still nice to see effort like that. ... Shots currently read 7-7, but Centomo's definitely made more impressive stops than Carroll has so far. And I think those counts are both a little low anyway. ... The Alexander marching band is out on the ice right now...kinda scary. Props to these kids if not a single one falls. And they're all wearing pink. ... Well, thanks to al the pink thunder "stix," this is certainly the noisiest game of the season. I hope someone saved me a set, haha.
Second Period: Ruskowski has taken off the sweater in favor of his suit jacket during intermission. ... Mudbugs will start this one with 40 seconds of a power play. ... The Bucks survived the rest of that Mudbugs' advantage and will now get one of their own as Clark was called for slashing Salvis at 4:04 in the middle period. ... Well, that Bucks' power play was not nearly as cohesive as the first, but at least they didn't allow any shorties. ... If this team really feeds off the crowd as much as it claims to, something's got to give soon. Not saying this hasn't been a good effort so far, because it's been much better than most of theirs lately, but they keep missing on their best chances. I guess sometimes when you're trying too hard, you miss the easy things. ... Mudbugs are going on their second power play 8:21 into this middle period as Bobby Russell has been called for tripping. ... I had forgotten to mention that all (well, both) of the Mudbugs' goals against the Bucks this season came on the advantage. Two-man advantages, actually. ... Well, they aren't getting a 5-on-3, but the Mudbugs are going back on the power play just 20 seconds after Russell came out of the box as he is going back in for slashing Joe Blaznek. Apparently Dixon and Goupil are now the forwards on the top-choice penalty kill. ... Brett Smith has put the Mudbugs on the board with a power-play score at 12:12 in the period. Well, Chris Brassard is getting credit for it, but we think Smith tapped in the rebound. Okay, yep, that was it. ... The Bucks can't seem to get any breaks in this one, but I think having more than one forward within 10 feet of the net could probably help sometimes. ... So, the lamp is lit, the fans are freaking out and the scoreboard reads 1-1...but the players aren't celebrating. Yeah, that's usually a sure sign of a no-goal. Ouch. Kozak had snapped a shot that everyone thought got past Carroll, but it turned out to be in his glove the whole time. A lot of people just wasted their corn. ... At least the Bucks will get a power play out of all that, as Quade Lightbody (one of my fave names) has been called for tripping. This advantage will begin as soon as the corn cleanup finishes, with 5:46 to play in the period. ... Carroll is allowing a lot of "juicy rebounds," if you will, but no one's ever in the right place to clean them up. Oh, and Bes sent Kozak a gorgeous centering pass that the latter party whiffed on to allow the Mudbugs to clear. Dixon tried his best from along the goal line and nearly got the puck caught on Carroll to the point that it could have trickled over him into the net, but no dice. Bucks are now 0-for-3 on their power-play chances. ... Kozak just tripped over Cruickshank, who didn't really try to get out of his way, and ended up with his body on the ice. Luckily, he didn't go all Mikhail Grabovski on him. ... Prior to the check presentation, the Bucks had every cancer survivor and patient in the crowd stand up, and I teared up a little. They didn't reach the sellout goal, but they still donated the $10,000. In fact, they were over 1,500 short of it, but majority owner Glenn Hart decided that he wanted to give more than $6,500. Hopefully that answers some people's questions.
Third Period: Starting the period with a too-many-men penalty is never a good sign, and the Bucks paid for that one as Joe Ori scored the Mudbugs' second power-play goal of the game. (Brett) Smith had the assist. Okay, the penalty was 58 seconds in, but still. Goal came at 1:14. ... Kozak has been called for boarding (board checking, if you will) to put the Mudbugs on another power play. Giving this team advantages really isn't the best thing to do, but they've still got some time. ... Lightbody has been called for interference to give the Bucks their first power play of the period at 5:49. ... I don't know how Carroll just made that save, but he did, so the Bucks are still scoreless. ... Okay, not anymore. For some reason (I didn't want to shift my frame of vision), Bes had skated over to the bench, leaving things 4-on-4, and that's when the Bucks were able to break through. Apparently it was Kozak on an assist from Goupil? Let's check the replay. Yeah, no, that was definitely (Darryl) Smith. Dube passed it from the back of the left circle to Goupil at the front of the circle, and he sent it to Smith, who fired it past Carroll for the goal. Those two always get mixed up due to number similarity, and my vision's too bad for me to realize the difference myself. Mudbugs lead 2-1 with 13:15 to play. All three goals in this game have come on power plays. ... The Bucks just got a lucky break as Dale Lupul's shot bounced off the crossbar, though it appeared to be in the net. That was weird. ... The Bucks have scored another as a shot from Miller accidentally turned into a behind-the-back pass that sent itself into the net for a rather neat goal. I'm sure that sounds weird, but that's the best way I can describe it. Salvis had the assist, and this game is evened up. Ruskowski is still yelling, though. ... Something's up with the mooring on Centomo's net, so we're experiencing a bit of a delay with 10:21 to play in the game. ... Ori, who has been a lot of trouble for the Bucks tonight, just tipped in a wrist shot by good ol' David Pszenyczny to give the Mudbugs the lead back not long after things started up again. Mudbugs lead 3-2 with 10:16 in the game. ... Lizon just managed to draw an interference call against Travis Clayton. Power play for the Bucks with 7:55 on the clock. ... Adam Rivet has broken his 8-game goal-scoring drought by being the first Buck to grab one of those "juicy rebounds" and send it home, tying things up again just 27 seconds into the power play. He definitely needed something to boost his confidence, so let's see if scoring a goal helps. Carroll was sprawled out to the left of his crease and could not get back in time, but I have to admit I half expected the Buck who got the puck to shoot it wide. Guess Rivet's no Jordan Staal. Just kidding. Sorry; I'm a little bitter. ... Holy cow, the LEC actually did a full wave. I am impressed. Not nearly as cool as the ones at Yankee Stadium, but still cool. I really need to stop mentioning things that upset me. ... I really hate it when there are people sitting in the row right in front of me, and all these battles at neutral ice have made the tall guy with a cap on in the seat to my front left even more obnoxious. ... I seriously adore having a big crowd yell out everything I'm thinking. But I'm guessing Ruskowski isn't as fond of all the bad passes the Bucks have been making in their offensive zone. ... Bes, Goupil and (Darryl) Smith have taken a few shifts together, but it'll be Agarunov, Russell and Salvis to finish up regulation. Dube and Rivet on defense. ... Overtime time. Cue the Rocky music. The Bucks controlled the last five minutes pretty effectively, but we'll see if they can keep it up. At least they know they'll get a point.
Overtime: Looks like the LEC has its own tripping ghost now, as Ori and Featherstone both wiped out early in this OT period without anyone seeming to knock them over. Not much to report other than that in the first 90 seconds. ... Goupil just fired a shot that seemed more of an attempt to get the puck behind the net than anything, but it hit the crossbar and came very close to winning this game. Obviously, it didn't. ... Smith (of the Brett variety) beat Centomo gloveside to end this thing. The Bucks left the ice faster than anything you'll ever see.
Game Over: Mudbugs win 4-3 in OT, improve to 21-11-2 (44 points). Bucks get a point, and thus gain one on the Texas Brahmas, who were off tonight. Bucks are 19-10-4 (42 pts.)
Other Scores: RiverKings 6, Oilers 0; Killer Bees 4, IceRays 2; Eagles 9, Gorillas 2; Rage 6, Scorpions 3; Jackalopes 5, Sundogs 4 (SO); Rush 4, Thunder 3.
NHL Scores: Blue Jackets 3, Capitals 0; Sabres 2, Rangers 1 (SO); Sharks 4, Oilers 1; Blues 6, Canucks 4; Ducks 4, Lightning 3.
1 comment:
Big time props to the Bucks for donating the money anyway. They did the right thing on a charity who could really use the money. I'm proud of them!
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