First Period: Okay, scratch what I said in that earlier post; Martin is here. But I was right to guess that he wouldn't be starting no matter what. ... As I told you would be the case after Friday night's game, Erick Lizon is a scratch again tonight. Justin Quenneville and Mark Tobin are scratches for the IceRays. ... These sweaters are the most obnoxious of the season so far as far as trying to read the numbers. Strange socks, too. ... Ummm, wow. Curtis Huppe sent one past Centomo right around ice level on his left side just 36 seconds into the game to give the IceRays a 1-0 lead. I don't think anyone in the arena saw that coming. ... And make that 1-1 as Smith sent a rebound of a shot by Goupil over Tebbs' left shoulder. Smith was on a 5-game streak without a goal before that one. ... Centomo just got pulled out of the net to save a shot, then the rebound ended up in the crease and when Rivet couldn't clear it out, Chris Shaffer sent it in, IceRays lead 2-1 just 3:31 into the game. The scorekeepers haven't given assists on either IceRays goal yet, but there should be some. ... Rapoza took a holding penalty at 5:30 in the period to give the Bucks the first power play of the period, but that got killed off pretty easily. ... I'm not feeling terribly bloggy tonight, as you may have noticed due to this unusually low textual output, haha. Five minutes left in the opening stanza, the IceRays still lead 2-1, and there has only been that one penalty. ... Rivet just evened things up at 16:18 in the period on a kind of flukey shot not long after a decent attempt by Matt Miller. Jason Dixon currently has the only assist. ... Mike Gooch just got a nice one-on-one chance against Tebbs, but the goalie made the save then somehow sprawled out with his legs on either side of the goalpost with the puck still loose. That was kind of odd. ... Chris Richards just fought off pretty much every Buck on the ice to take a nice backhanded shot, but Centomo was able to stop it with his chest padding. ... With 1:11 to play in the period, Nicolas Bachand has been called for a high-sticking minor to put the Bucks on their second power play, and only the second of the game. ... Richards just accidentally took Centomo out while the goalie was clearing the puck from the trapezoid. If the Bucks hadn't already been running away with it, that could have been a scary thing for them. ... Heading into the first intermission, game is tied 2-2. Bucks lead 14-6 on shots, at least according to the scoreboard. ... The Bucks will have 49 seconds on the power play to start the second.
Second Period: Lively first couple minutes, but no scoring, including on the 46 seconds of power play the Bucks had to start. ... Rick Kozak took an abuse of official penalty, and the IceRays took advantage just a couple seconds into the power play, as John Halverson sent the puck from the point right through Centomo. Well, not literally. Richards had the assist, and the IceRays lead 3-2. ... Salvis was just given the second assists on both of the Bucks' first period goals. He has also taken the Bucks' second penalty of this period, this one for hooking at 4:59. ... After a few minutes of delay to solve some minor ice issues, the IceRays will begin their power play against Dube, Goupil, Rivet and Smith. ... Jeremy Leroux scored on that one just a few seconds in once again, beating Centomo on the blocker side and narrowly missing the post. Richards and Bennett had the assists. IceRays lead 4-2, and Centomo is clearly not quite right tonight. Oh, and contrary to what Pointstreak would currently have you believe, the IceRays have actually capitalized on both of their power-play chances tonight. The Bucks, however, are actually 0-for-2 on the advantage. ... The IceRays will get another chance now as Featherstone was called for cross-checking. ... Thirty-five seconds into that one, Greene took a hooking call to make it 4-on-4 for 1:25, then a Bucks' advantage for 35 seconds when Featherstone gets out. ... Bennett just tripped, I think over himself, and flew into the net without disrupting Centomo at all. That was odd. ... Okay, and now another chance for the IceRays as Kozak is headed to the box for tripping at 12:21 in the period, not long after that last power play expired. ... Huppe just nearly made it 5-2, getting the puck past Centomo with some persistence, but the whistle had blown about a millisecond before he netted it. ... Tebbs didn't get that luxury as Smith just used some fancy stick work to get the puck past Jeff Grant with Adams trailing and swiftly net it on a wrist shot to the top shelf. Kozak, who just escaped the sin bin, had the assist. IceRays lead 4-3 with 5:31 to play in the period. ... Grant just made up for getting beaten by Smith with a beautiful pass to Adam Powell, who wristed it from the high slot past Centomo. ... I guess it's a good thing Martin got here tonight (or whenever he did), because he is in the game. Coach Ruskowski is not fond of pulling goalies during periods, so either Centomo said he wanted out or Ruskowski is really mad about those goals. Obviously, five goals on 15 shots isn't what he wanted to see, but I'm still a little surprised he didn't wait until intermission with just over three minutes to go. ... With 1:26 to play, Ryan James Hand has earned an interference call. Martin has only faced one shot so far, but he'll probably be getting a couple tests right about now. ... Not so much, as the Bucks blocked all but one of the shots taken by the IceRays in the first portion of the power play. They'll have 34 more seconds to start the final period. ... Apparently stopping the puck as it slides to the left of the net is considered saving a shot these days. That's gotta be good for the ol' save percentage. ... Bucks lead 24-20 on shots now, meaning they were outshot 12-11 in the period.
Third Period: The Bucks killed off those seconds, and it's interesting to note that Ruskowski has Dube and Rivet out together at even strength at this point. He normally separates them except on special teams to make sure the young guys have someone experienced to play with, but he must think they're going to have to be the ones who score if the Bucks are going to get back into it. Both have had pretty low production this season compared to their usual numbers, but I can see why he'd still trust them more than some guys. ... Bucks will go on their fourth power play at 2:44 with a hooking call against Greene. ... Salvis completely missed a pass from Dube that followed a lot of other passes, and that allowed the IceRays to get a crucial clear. The Bucks took some time to recover and saw the penalty killed off with only a couple of shots taken. ... Grenne almost took advantage of a penalty box departure to combine with Powell for a scoring chance, but the puck was poke checked away. ... The Texas Brahmas are in overtime, so they'll be picking up a point tonight for sure. ... And they have won it to pick up two. The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees also picked up an overtime win, theirs coming against the conference-leading Odessa Jackalopes after all the bus-related ridiculousness that plagued them yesterday. Not bad. ... The IceRays are getting another power-play chance now as Mitch Stephens has been called for tripping at 9:32. ... Shaffer now has his second of the game with a beautiful precision shot that whipped past Martin's left arm. That one's going to be listed as unassisted until the IceRay who passed the puck to Shaffer asks someone to fix it. ... Hand has been called for interference with 6:48 to give the IceRays a chance to add to their 6-3 lead on the power play. Considering how Ruskowski talked to me about last night's win, I'm guessing tonight's interview is going to be quite unhappy. ... Ummm, yeah.
Game Over: IceRays win 6-3, first time they've won at the LEC since Jan. 20. The Bucks fall to 24-14-4 (52 points) and are now 12 points behind the Brahmas. ... Well, according to Ruskowski, catching the Brahmas is the last thing on his mind after a performance that left more than a little bit to be desired.
Other Scores: Mudbugs 2, Thunder 1; RiverKings 4, Rush 0; Killer Bees 4, Jackalopes 3 (OT); Brahmas 5, Oilers 4 (OT); Blazers 2, Gorillas o; Eagles 5, Scorpions 2; Sundogs 5, Rage 4.
NHL Scores: Capitals 4, Red Wings 2; Bruins 1, Rangers 0; Canadiens 4, Kings 3; Ducks 4, Avalanche 3; Islanders 3, Panthers 1; Maple Leafs 5, Penguins 4; Hurricanes 2, Thrashers 0; Blues 4, Flyers 0; Sabres 2, Coyotes 0; Wild 4, Canucks 3 (OT); Blackhawks 4, Sharks 2.
3 comments:
Man oh Man!, what in the world is wrong with our Bucks. To lose to the last place team in our division is not good. Grant it the Rays (Rayz whatever they're called) played an outstanding game. They made our team look simply stupid, as Coach Rosco would say.
I don't remember ever having a Bucks team looking this bad throughout the course of the year. The only consistency we have is that we're inconsistent. The only consistency we have is our penalties and that sucks.
MEMO TO: Coach Rosco
It's time to start looking around for other players that want to play because this team may not make the playoffs. Why wait, the team keeps getting worse and you're probably getting more ulcers.
Winning a game here and there is not going to cut it. Here's another suggestion Coach, if you want to increase attendance at the LEC maybe having a winning team will help. This team is starting to take on the appearance of prima-donnas, yeah that's right prima-donnas. We have too many good players on this team and no leadership. This is a team only Jerry Jones would be proud off. It's time to call them out..one by one. I'll start you out Coach, let me call out Serge Dube "The Captain" what have you done for me lately? There I said it!
wow. You need to shorten these game blogs.
No, she doesn't need to shorten her game blog!
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