Game No. 52 - Bucks vs. Sundogs

Sorry for the lack of game day blog; things will be getting started shortly. You can read my preview for some thoughts on tonight's game and follow it here or right here. Devin Featherstone and Mike Gooch are both scratches for this evening, and we won't have to wait long to get a look at Mickey Gilchrist, who will be starting and is wearing No. 25.

Starters: Bucks - Sebastien Centomo (G), Jason Dixon (F), Gilchrist (F), Alex Goupil (F), Jaye Judd (D), Adam Rivet (D); Sundogs - Chris Bartolone (D), Matt Craig (F), Joel Gistedt (G), Dwayne Hay (F), Mark Kolanos (F), Jon Landry (D).

First Period: The only thing I can tell you after Gilchrist's first shift is that he was the first member of his line to leave the ice on the change. Apparently Erick Lizon is the second winger on the top line to start the evening. The other line is Igor Agarunov-Ryan Salvis-Matt Miller. ... Karl Sellan just scored an easy goal at 2:18 in the period to put the Sundogs up 1-0 early. Yikes. Centomo was being screened by a Sundog and one of his own defenseman and did not see the puck at all as Tyler Liebel sent it around the crease to Sellan, who had no trouble flipping it in. ... Lizon just sent a nice centering feed to Smith in the slot but that didn't do much other than look good. ... Hood has taken a tripping penalty at 4:25 to put the Bucks on the game's first power play. ... Hey, look, the Bucks had two guys digging in around the net on the power play, and they scored. Perhaps they can remember to do that more often. Game is tied 1-1 on a goal by Igor Agarunov, on an assist from Darryl Smith, 1:02 into the power play. Goupil was also working hard on that play down low, and Brent Cullaton and Serge Dube were the other two Bucks on the ice. ... It took almost seven minutes for Centomo to get his first save of the game, but you can't really fault him on that. ... A too-many-men call at 6:46 has sent Jason Lawmaster to the box and put the Bucks on the advantage again. ... No dice on that one; Bucks are 1-for-2 on the power play so far. ... Not much going on until Adam Perry got a breakaway chance with just over three minutes to play and got hooked from behind by Judd. Of all the players to give a penalty shot. ... Yeah, he got that. Some deking, a nice trick move and a forehand shot right over the shoulder, and the Sundogs lead 2-1. ... Steve Weidlich and Vincent Zaore-Vanie have both been sent to the box for delay of game with 1:34 to play in the period to give the Sundogs their first power play, and a 5-on-3 at that. ... Dube, Rivet and Smith killed the first 1:34 of that, and the Sundogs will be 5-on-3 again to start the second. They lead 11-9 in shots and 2-1 where it counts.

Second Period: The Bucks killed off the remaining time on that 5-on-3 without allowing a shot on goal. ... Goupil has been his usual ball-of-energy self tonight and has been firing shots quite frequently, and he just took advantage of a golden opportunity to tie the game. He had a breakaway, then was quickly chased down by a Sundogs defender but managed to flip a backhand right over Gistedt. Very impressive precision on that shot, especially considering the pace at which he was moving at the time. ... Another quick breakaway for the Bucks and another goal. Miller this time, and he faked Gistedt out to send it past him from inside the crease. Bucks now lead 3-2 and can definitely take some momentum from this if they stay energetic right now. Those goals were scored at 2:27 and 3:42, respectively. ... And now it is 4-2 Bucks at 5:02 in the period, as Gilchrist has scored his first Central Hockey League goal. Goupil got the assist and looked more excited for his new teammate than he did for his own goal. And he was quite excited for his own, trust me. ... The Sundogs just got one back as Sellan scored his second of the game off a great setup from Liebel. They had a bit of an odd-man rush going but nothing the Bucks weren't capable of handling if they had played the puck properly. We'll see if the wheels come off. ... A frantic scramble around Centomo has resulted in a power play for the Sundogs, as Weidlich is headed to the box at for stick holding at 8:41. ... After about four consecutive shots (three on rebounds), Landry got called for slashing and Salvis took a tripping call at the same time. As I started typing that, Sellan and Centomo somehow managed to get involved in some kind of something in Centomo's left circle, resulting in Sellan being on the ice for quite some time. Bizarre stuff. ... Goupil will head to the box to serve Centomo's roughing penalty, which gives the Sundogs a brief 5-on-3 then some time on a one-man advantage. ... Nothing doing on those power plays or in the rest of the period scoreboard-wise, but the Sundogs certainly had the puck a lot more in the latter part of this period than the Bucks did and managed to outshoot them 15-9 in the period as a whole. They lead 26-18 on shots for the game. Bucks lead 4-3.

Third Period: Bartolone got called for hooking just 52 seconds in to put the Bucks on a power play. ... Nothing doing on that one. Bucks are now 1-for-3 on the power play in the game. ... This period has been pretty quiet so far, only a couple shots per team and not much else 10:56 in. ... Miller is headed to the box for holding at 12:02 to give the Sundogs a power play at a very opportune time for them should they capitalize on it. ... That they did, as Matt Hanson netted one 1:49 into the advantage to tie this game at 4. ... Smith just centered one for Lizon who took a shot and kept stabbing away at the rebounds until Gistedt got a whistle. Still tied with 3:30 to go. ... Another close call, as Gistedt allowed a rebound with Dixon right in front of the net, but he couldn't quite get it past him. ... Everyone will be getting a point tonight; we're headed to overtime.

Overtime: Dube somehow managed to create a chance going 1-on-2 against some Sundogs but backhanded the puck behind the net. That's the closest anyone's gotten so far. ... I don't think you can fault them effort-wise, but things just aren't coming together right now. There are 31.7 seconds left in the OT period with a faceoff to come at the Sundogs' blueline. One of the coaches just called a timeout, but I couldn't hear which one over the video on the Jumbotron. ... The set play got the puck to Smith as I assume it was supposed to, but he missed the net wide. Shootout time.

Shootout: Bucks will shoot first, with Dixon doing the honors. ... Faked him out and got it over his right shoulder to put the Bucks up 1-0. Sellan will shoot first for the Sundogs. ... He kinda messed himself up keeping the puck flat and running right into Centomo, so the Bucks keep the 1-0 advantage. Smith next. ... Shot it right into the pads. Hood now. ... That one took a bit more effort, but Centomo handled it. Judd up now, interesting. ... Faked him out and went left. The bench seems a bit impressed, haha. Kolanos now. ... Wicked glove save to keep the 2-0 lead for the Bucks with Cullaton skating out. ... He backhanded it past Gistedt to win the game, then fell on his butt. I think he can deal with that, though.

Game Over: Bucks win 5-4 in the shootout, improve to 30-18-4 (64 points) and get 20 wins at home for the seventh consecutive season. Not their best game, but the first five minutes of the second period are what kept them alive. ... Coach Ruskowski was actually a lot happier than I would have expected. The team did work pretty hard tonight, and I guess that's what matters most to him.

NHL Scores: Bruins 6, Ducks 0; Devils 4, Avalanche 0; Hurricanes 2, Sabres 1 (SO); Maple Leafs 5, Islanders 4 (SO); Capitals 4, Thrashers 3; Panthers 2, Rangers 1; Sharks 2, Senators 1; Predators 4, Coyotes 1; Blues 3, Stars 1; Blue Jackets 1, Oilers 0.