First Period: Josh Bonar has become the latest player to wear No. 9 this season. We'll see if he can hold onto it a little longer than the rest of them, much less live up to it. ... Bucks are on the power play 11 seconds into this one as Bennefield is in the box for hooking. No, Steinel is not officiating. ... And they are now 0-for-1 on the advantage. ... Featherstone just took one of the weakest shots on net I have ever seen. I'm all for respecting defensive defenseman, but yeesh. ... Stephen Burns is in the box at 3:34 for cross-checking. If this is going to be one of those games where one team gets all the calls early and the other gets them late, the Bucks might want to try to score here. ... Erick Lizon, who started the season as a bench warmer who made it on the ice mostly only if someone was hurt in a game is now out with the top power play unit. If that doesn't tell you everything about how injury depleted the Bucks are right now, I don't know what could. ... In keeping with "Kids Day," they are playing random popular songs with kids singing along in the background. Kind of disturbing when you consider some of the lyrics and what they mean. ... Oh, right, lines for today: Alex Goupil-Darryl Smith-Brent Cullaton, Agarunov-Salvis-Miller and Lizon-Dixon-Bonar. ... The Bucks did Bennefield a favor turning the puck over inside the blue line and he went one-on-one with Martin and won (five-hole) to put the Killer Bees on the board at 8:53 in the period. ... I'm pretty sure Bonar just scored his first goal with the Bucks, but the scorekeeper says it was Lizon...okay, nope, Bonar. That didn't take long. Lizon and Dixon are getting assists, and I guess not everyone is convinced that it was Bonar. Game tied 1-1 at 11:21. ... Goupil got called for slashing 12 seconds after that goal, so the Killer Bees are now on their first power play of the game. ... Evan Rankin just drove hard to the net to chase a rebound and was promptly attacked by most of the Bucks on the ice, eventually having his helmet removed and being thrown to the ice with an angry crowd above him. Obviously you need to defend your goalie if you think opposing players are taking liberties with him, but be careful, please. The last thing anyone wants on Kids Day is a cracked skull. At least I hope so. ... Ryan Shmyr just put the Killer Bees back on top at 14:44 with a top-shelf goal. The Bucks are more than doubling the Killer Bees on shots (13-6) but still losing 2-1. When is Sebastien Centomo coming back? ... The Bucks just had a 3-on-2 and a great scoring chance, but Adam Rivet sent Agarunov's centering pass wide. ... Bennefield to the box for slashing at 15:51, and I guess Lizon was just out with the top power play that one time because someone else couldn't be, because it is now back to its usual setup. Dube and Cullaton on the points, with Agarunov, Goupil and Smith down low. ... No longer, as Smith has gone off for tripping 34 seconds into that advantage. 4-0n-4 for now, then a Killer Bees' power play for 26 seconds when Bennefield gets out of the box. ... A hand pass call broke up a decent chance for Smith in the Killer Bees' zone. ... End of the first period, Killer Bees lead 2-1. Bucks are up 17-7 on shots. Both teams are scoreless on the power play, with the Bucks going 0-for-3 and the Killer Bees 0-f0r-2. ... That goal has been switched back to Lizon, with Bonar and Dixon picking up assists. Additionally, Hardwick and Goeckner-Zoeller have been given assists on Bennefield's goal.
Second Period: Scott flew into the boards mostly by his own doing 51 seconds in or so, and the Killer Bees were looking for a call and rightfully didn't get one. ... Rivet is in the box for tripping at 1:31 in the period on an unrelated call, putting the Killer Bees on their third power play of the game. ... Mike Gooch just blocked a shot that appeared to hit his hip bone, and that obviously hurt a little. He got up right away and skated off on his own and all but looked to be in some pain. ... Brian Bicek has put the Bucks on their first power play of the period with an interference penalty at 3:54. ... I really wish the CHL kept time on ice stats because I'm pretty sure neither Dube nor Cullaton comes off when the Bucks are on the power play unless a whistle allows a change with less than 10 seconds left on the advantage. Keep in mind those are the two oldest players on the active roster, though that certainly doesn't imply they aren't in good enough shape to handle it. ... I guess Cullaton finally got tired of his passes to other players being wasted because he just brought the puck pretty much all the way down the ice and tried to beat Boucher with a backhand but couldn't find the net. ... Martin seems a little off, I have to say, as he just made two saves that he seemed to have complete control of but let both go. The first got cleared to the blue line, but the second resulted in a Killer Bees' shot getting juggled around and eventually landing behind Martin. I thought that was Bennefield, but they're giving it to Goeckner-Zoeller for now. Bennefield has the assist. Killer Bees lead 3-1 at 8:11 in the period. I guess now's as good a time as any to note that Burns and Dan McGoff have been given assists on that Shmyr goal. And that makes it as good a time as any to smile about this, even though I was sadly unable to watch the game. ... Salvis and Miller just got a 2-on-1 but the main result of that was Miller plowing into and upending Boucher. ... Aaron Lee is in the box for tripping at 11:29, and I guess Coach Ruskowski can read my mind because neither Cullaton nor Dube is on the ice to start this power play. ... Just seconds after Cullaton whiffed on a rebound right in front of the Killer Bees' net, Scott scored a shortie on an assist from Goeckner-Zoeller to make it 4-1 Killer Bees at 13:14. Oh boy. ... After ignoring what appeared to be an obvious trip on Miller by Goeckner-Zoeller, Tudor Floru acknowledged a cross check by Lee behind the Bucks' net. I'm not sure if he's like that all the time, but for a not-too-big, high-scoring guy, Lee seems to love starting trouble with the Bucks. ... There was only so much Boucher could do with the Bucks crowding his net for a while on that advantage, and Cullaton finally broke through top-shelf to pull the Bucks within 2. Rivet has what is currently the lone assist, and the Killer Bees lead 4-2 with 2:14 to play. That shot came from the high slot and may have been touched by Miller, who is currently being given the second assist but may have the goal by the end of this. ... End of two, Killer Bees lead 4-2; Bucks are up 28-18 on shots, meaning each team took 11 in that period. ... Am I alone in finding Ronald McDonald mildly frightening? ... The Brahmas have lost their second straight, so if the Bucks can come from behind here, they'll gain a couple points on the division leaders. ... Miller has indeed been given that goal; Cullaton and Salvis on the assists. UPDATE: The goal went back to Cullaton, with Rivet and Salvis getting the assists. Funny how Salvis finished with three points and a plus-three rating, yet Miller was the Buck who got a star.
Third Period: Just as I was about to say there wasn't much going on a few minutes in, Salvis brought the puck in from the blue line, went one-on-one with Boucher, seemed to have gotten stopped...but then the puck got through. Killer Bees now lead 4-3 just 3:20 into the final period. ... Due to my superstitious nature, I haven't brought this up yet, but everyone else has, so I may as well. The Killer Bees are 0-15-2 at the LEC since Nov. 28, 2006. ... Gooch is headed to the box for hooking at 5:06 in the period to put the Killer Bees back on the power play, their first of this period and fourth of the game. ... The Bucks have tied the game, thanks in large part to a player who was literally on top of Boucher's stick and completely distracting him from play. Boucher is not at all happy with the lack of call on that play, but Miller seems pretty glad to have scored that goal. Thanks to the replay, we know Salvis was the offending party on what should have been a goalie interference penalty. Game tied 4-4 with 10:42 to play. ... Call it karma, or call it Jesse Bennefield, but the Killer Bees are back on top after Smith's attempt at a centering pass for Cullaton hit Goeckner-Zoeller's stick, then Goeckner-Zoeller sent it way up for Bennefield, who was all alone with Martin. That took the Killer Bees all of 77 seconds to recover. ... Bennefield nearly had a hattie from just inside the point after Daryl Moore sent him a nice drop pass off a fake shot, but Martin just barely managed to glove it away. ... Rivet just got called for slashing after a series of non-calls by Floru. Killer Bees are on the power play with 6:31 to play. ... Do you ever get annoyed when a game is in the balance and a guy who hasn't even been out for that long of a shift seems more concerned with getting off the ice than getting the puck up the ice for his team? Yeah, me, too. ... Ansell just blocked a pass, possibly with his face, and is keeled over behind the Killer Bees' bench. ... Getting in fights on top of goalies doesn't seem to be the wisest thing a group of players can do, but Miller just lost his...temper... and went off on Burns, who had shoved him away from Boucher. Both players will leave the ice as there are only 3:09 left to play. That might come back to bite the Bucks considering Miller had two of their goals so far in this game. ... You know something's up if Rivet's picking fights, and he just did exactly that, but at least he took the Killer Bees' leading scorer out of the game in the process. Not in a bad way, but Bennefield will also get five for fighting, so he's out of the equation, as is Rivet. That was weird, as everyone was shoving around the Boucher's net, but Rivet and Bennefield were having words up the ice then finally made it physical around center ice. Guess we won't be seeing any hat tricks, barring a scoring barrage, as both two-goal scorers in this one are out. ... Martin has been pulled with 1:05 to play. ... They got very close quite a few times, but no go. Sorry, kids.
Game Over: Killer Bees win 5-4, improve to 24-19-4 (52 points). Bucks fall to 26-15-4 (56 pts.). Lest you forget, that is the Killer Bees' first win here since Nov. 26, 2006. ... Coach Ruskowski isn't usually big on blaming one part of his team for a loss, but this time, the defense is bearing the brunt of his frustrations. Oh, and apparently doctors will be deciding whether or not Jeff Bes will be healthy in time to play in the playoffs sometime this week.
Other Scores: Blazers 4, Brahmas 2; IceRays 3, Mudbugs 1; Rage 4, RiverKings 3 (SO); Thunder 5, Oilers 4 (SO).
NHL Scores: Sharks 5, Bruins 2; Kings 4, Islanders 3 (SO); Blue Jackets 3, Avalanche 0; Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 4 (SO); Thrashers 3, Lightning 1; Red Wings 5, Predators 3; Canucks 6, Blues 4.
Note: Things got a little busier tonight at the office than I had anticipated, so talk about the trades and all that jazz will have to wait until tomorrow.
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