UPDATE: Start time will be 8:16 p.m. Sixteen? Oy.
Starters: Bucks - Sebastien Centomo (G), Jason Dixon (F), Devin Featherstone (D), Rick Kozak (F), Bobby Russell (F), Vincent Zaore-Vanie (D); Nathan Ansell (D), Brian Bicek (F), Christian Boucher (G), Kurtis Dulle (D), Evan Rankin (F), Topher Scott (F).
First Period: Evgeni Malkin just scored his 100th career NHL goal. That is totally relevant to this game, I swear. ... Who the hekc is the woman standing behind the Bucks' bench right now? ... Tiny Topher, which is what I feel like calling Scott at the current point in time, was shoving Kozak while the two waited for the faceoff at center ice. He's a snappy little guy. ... Well, Mitch Stephens has his first point as a Buck, as he just sent a pass to Alex Goupil, who fed Igor Agarunov for a goal just 69 seconds into the game. Bucks lead 1-0. ... Grant Goeckner-Zoeller just went in on Centomo and took a shot, then chased his own rebound right into Centomo's body, throwing the goalie back into his net. Centomo gloved the puck to keep the Killer Bees off the board. ... The Bucks will get the first power play of the game now as Dulle was called for slashing Kozak, who shook his right hand around for a while after the slash but seems to be fine now. Penalty came at 2:54 in the period. ... Oh, I see. The woman is Cindy Solis from TCi, and she is tonight's honorary assistant coach. ... The Killer Bees definitely do look bitter, as they are throwing their bodies around quite a bit, but I'm not sure how much effect that'll have. ... Mike Gooch just had a great one-on-one chance but had his shot saved. At least he got it on net, eh? ... Ryan Gibb's first start as a New Mexico Scorpion isn't treating him all too well, as he has already faced 17 shots from the Colorado Eagles and given up three goals as of the 15-minute mark. ... The Killer Bees really do seem to be a tough-luck squad. First, the bus troubles, and now they're going to be at the wrong end of a 5-on-3 early in a game they are already losing. ... Hooking on Stephen Burns at 8:03 + hooking on Jay Hardwick at 8:27 = a Bucks 5-n-3 for 1:36. ... J.P. Sylvain is not a very sympathetic fellow, as he has just called Dulle for tripping at the 9-minute mark. ... Hardwick just came out of the box when Burns was supposed to be doing so. Is that allowed? Okay, they're swapping them. And having a discussion about the situation. I'm not sure if they know whether or not that's allowed, either. ... No further penalties were assessed, so I guess they were okay. ... Serge Dube just sent a pass in front of Boucher directly to the stick of Dan McGoff. Guess he is playing tonight! ... The Bucks are owning the Killer Bees on time of possession here yet only outshooting them 9-5. Intriguing. ... Burns is headed back to the box for holding behind his team's net. If this means the Bucks are going to be called for a lot later in the game in retribution, they might want to score one on of these chances. ... The Bucks get some more 5-on-3 time here as Zak McClellan was called for hooking 1:01 after Burns' latest penalty. ... Goshdarn it. This game isn't going to be ending in any kind of time for me to write a story before deadline, and the Penguins just lost in OT after leading 3-1 with about eight minutes left in the game. I'm thinking this isn't my night. ... The Bucks have finally taken advantage of one of those calls, as Adam Rivet scored his seventh of the season on a slap shot from just behind the slot. He was packing back and forth with another player who should clearly be getting an assist, but it seems no one knows exactly who it was. ... Ummm, seriously bad luck. Boucher was just taken out like nobody's business and flew to the ice facedown. Their backup isn't really in the condition to play right now, so we'll see how they react to that. Dixon is getting a goalie interference call out of that, and Boucher is staying in the crease. ... I guess Boucher is okay, as he stopped a few quick shots to start that 4-on-4. ... The Bucks killed off the Killer Bees' first 46 seconds on the advantage to keep things 2-0 in their favor. ... Other than all the penalties, that was a fairly entertaining 20 minutes. Bucks lead 2-0 at the first intermission, 14-8 on shots. ... Awww, they're doing a little Junior Bucks game during the intermission. ... Jeff Bes is in the press box, and I guess since he's out in public it can't hurt for me to tell you his right leg is braced up, requiring that he sit on a tall chair and rest his leg on a short one to keep it straight. He's still on crutches, too. So yeah, I'm guessing 14 days is nowhere near the truth about how long he'll be out. ... Gibb has been pulled from the Scorpions' game 5:25 into the second period after saving 20 of 23 shots he faced. He hadn't allowed one in a while, I'm wondering if that means he's injured.
Second Period: Just to warn you, there's no way my game story is going to have quotes tonight unless there is not a single whistle blown during the remaining 40 minutes of this game. ... Rivet is headed to the box for hooking Bicek just 49 seconds into the period. That resulted in Bicek tripping Kozak and some very dramatic rolling around on the ice. ... Well, Jesse Bennefield didn't waste much time taking advantage of that, as he sent a slapper in from around the point and had it redirected by Matt Byrnes between Centomo's pads to make it 2-1. First goal for Byrnes since joining the Killer Bees a couple weeks back. ... I just registered how small the crowd is tonight. I guess this is why the Bucks tried to avoid scheduling Friday night games this season. ... The Bucks just passed the puck to Bennefield a couple times, but Centomo did his best to combat his teammates' efforts with a few quick saves before covering up the puck to stop play. ... Goeckner-Zoeller just got close to the equalizer, but Stephens took a somewhat necessary hooking call to keep the Bucks on top. Of course, that means the Killer Bees will be getting a power play after scoring on their only other full advantage of the game. ... I am pretty sure Rivet just blocked a shot with his face. He raised his hand to the area it hit as though he was thinking about showing that he was hurt, but then changed his mind. ... Oh my gosh. I just checked the Brahmas-RiverKings box score, and with about 90 seconds left, Brett Jaeger has saved 44 of 46 shots he's faced. Yikes. Guess he really is a Jaeger Master. I'm going to feel terribly jinxy if they lose now. ... Dube just sent a lose puck from the crease right past Boucher, who was camped out to the left, to give the Bucks a 3-1 lead. Kozak has the lone assist. There was a lot of traffic around the net, so I'm not sure how much Boucher can be faulted for not seeing that, but Dube certainly did a great job tracking the puck down for his seventh goal of the season. Guess he couldn't let Rivet get another without tallying one himself to keep their totals (goals and points) even for the season. At least until Dube gets the assist he deserves on Rivet's goal. ... The Brahmas and RiverKings are going into OT, so the division leaders will be getting a point regardless of the outcome. ... Well, Jorge Lopez just got a few more seconds of fame by being the answer to a trivia question. Too bad they spelled his name wrong! Adorable, no less. ... Jason Deitsch has won the game for the Brahmas, so they are currently 12 points ahead of the Bucks with this game's result pending. ... Bicek just chased a puck a little too close to Centomo's glove for Gooch's liking, so Gooch gave him a shove, then Rivet got in on the action. Those small guys on the Killer Bees are seriously feisty. ... Centomo just saved a flurry of shots with pretty much every part of his body. The way the Bucks were failing to get the puck out, I really thought the Killer Bees had a chance there, but Centomo apparently disagreed. ... The things the Bucks were doing crisply in the first period are starting to get sloppy, and the Killer Bees have definitely controlled the puck a lot more in this period than in the opening one, but Centomo is shutting them down. ... Ryan James Hand just took down a Killer Bee behind the net, then Dube had one shoved into the board with his knee on his back to keep him there. No call, as Sylvain seems to have decided he wants to get home at some point tonight, but that was just weird. ... A few shots on goal and some good saves by each netminder (mostly Centomo) but not much of note other than that and some spiffy defense by Matt Miller in the final four minutes of the second. Bucks lead 3-1 and are now trailing 22-24 on shots. I doubt Ruskowski is thrilled that they got outshot 16-8 in that period.
Third Period: The first thing to happen of major note in this period was Dixon accidentally blocking a shot from Russell in front of the net right in the gut. He looked to be in quite a bit of pain as he dragged himself off the ice. ... The Killer Bees will get the first power play of this period at 6:22 as Featherstone took a cross-checking call and Smith took a holding call at the same time. ... The Killer Bees took advantage of that advantage rather quickly, as Bennefield got one over Centomo with Rankin grabbing the assist. The Killer Bees will stay on the power play. Remember how I said Sylvain might make a bunch of calls against the Bucks later in the game after all the things he called against the Killer Bees in the first? Yeah. ... Smith just slammed Byrnes into the boards and was given a boarding penalty for the play. He was pretty ticked off about that call as he headed to the box. Big penalty kill test here. ... They survived that one, then nearly added to their lead as Dube hit the crossbar. About six minutes left now. ... Everyone's shoving everyone else around now because they really don't want me to get my story in by deadline. Okay, hopefully that's not really the case, but it seems that way. Byrnes and Featherstone took simultaneous roughing calls at 14:39, then more pushing followed the next whistle. ... Boucher is a very theatrical fellow. Every time someone goes near him, he convinces me that he's about to die, but luckily that is not the case. ... Sylvain just called Bennefield for goalie interference with 34 seconds left. The Killer Bees had Boucher out before that and will keep him off the ice. ... Centomo's defensemen tripped him onto the ice, and he was a bit slow getting up but seems to be fine. About ten seconds left with a faceoff coming to Centomo's right.
Game Over: Sorry, had to send my story. Bucks win 3-2, improve to 24-13-4 (52 points). Dube did get that assist, and one was added for Russell on Dube's goal. Part of me wants to go downstairs and talk to Ruskowski even though I can't really use the quotes, but part of me wants to leave after already being in the arena for about five hours. ... Of course, I went with the former option. He was literally (but gently) slamming his head into the wall in frustration, so I guess he wasn't all too thrilled with this one. Understandably, he had a major problem with the two penalties in the same shift that led to the Killer Bees' second goal, and he called Centomo the "backbone" of the team. I'll share the rest of what he had to say tomorrow, but for now, good night.
Other Scores: Blazers 4, Thunder 3 (OT); Mudbugs 4, Rush 2; Jackalopes 4, IceRays 1; Gorillas 2, Oilers 1; Brahmas 3, RiverKings 2 (OT); Eagles 6, Scorpions 2; Rage 6, Sundogs 3.
NHL Scores: Blue Jackets 1, Senators 0; Devils 4, Penguins 3 (OT); Flyers 6, Lightning 1; Oilers 3, Wild 1; Flames 3, Predators 1.
2 comments:
What were your thoughts on Dan McGoff's Killer Bees debut?
GO TERRIERS!!!!
I can't say he made too much of an impression. He had fairly limited ice time (I think I heard Rich say his name once during the game), and I really only noticed him when he was on the point for a power play or two. It appears he was a scratch last night, so maybe he got hurt during Friday's game?
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