Game No. 53 - Bucks at Killer Bees

I have lost count of how many times I've heard the word "huge" used to describe this game. Between my game story from last night's 5-4 shootout win and Bryan Benway's preview for tonight, you've got quite a few.

I'm going to be monitoring the game as I try to watch the Penguins take on the Blackhawks without Sidney Crosby, but you can follow it here for more up-to-the-minute coverage.

Brian Sandalow has an entry about this matchup from earlier today, one from yesterday and one from Wednesday. And no, I am not getting paid to watch the Pens, haha.

Andrew Martin will be in goal for the Bucks, and Christian Boucher is doing the honors for the Killer Bees.

First Period: The Killer Bees are on the board just 2:52 into the game on a goal from Evan Rankin. Of course, the Bucks gave up a goal even earlier and still won, but that fact doesn't mean much right now. ... Matt Miller took the game's first penalty with a cross-check at 7:33. ... Devin Featherstone and Mike Gooch are scratches once again, and Mickey Gilchrist is not on the Pointstreak lineup, but that may just mean they didn't have them in their system yet. ... Alex Goupil took a slashing call at 10:54, but the Bucks killed both of those penalties. ... End of the period, Killer Bees lead 1-0, and I somehow just noticed that the Bucks are getting outshot 17-6. Yikes.

Second Period: Trevor Weisberger, who had the primary assist on Rankin's first-period goal, took the Killer Bees' first penalty of the game at 2:34 for tripping. ... Hmmm, the box score has been stuck at 3:54 into the period for quite some time. ... And now it is magically the second intermission! Game is tied 1-1 on a goal by Adam Rivet assisted by former Killer Bee Josh Bonar and Jason Dixon. The score came 14:51 into the period. The Bucks took three penalties in the period while the box score was delayed, with Brent Cullaton (slashing - 11:17), Steve Weidlich (interference - 15:14) and Goupil (interference - 16:20) each getting time in the box. The Killer Bees had a 5-on-3 when Weidlich and Goupil's penalties overlapped, but the Bucks killed that just as they did the first three Killer Bee advantages. Killer Bees lead 28-16 on shots, meaning they held an 11-10 advantage in the second. ... As important as this game is to both teams involved, the one between the IceRays and Sundogs in Corpus Christi is probably even bigger for its participants, and each of them will be getting at least a point as it is currently headed to overtime in a scoreless tie.

Third Period: Whoa now. One refresh after things were still 1-1 about five minutes in, the Bucks are up 3-1 on goals by Igor Agarunov and Cullaton. They scored at 5:20 and 6:15, respectively. ... Stephen Burns is headed to the box at 7:20 to give the Bucks the first power play of the period. ... The Sundogs won 1-0 in a shootout, meaning they've been taken the distance two nights in a row and also played two nights before. That could be an advantage for the Bucks tomorrow, but you never know. ... Vincent Zaore-Vanie got called for interference at 12:03 to put the Killer Bees on a power play, but Evan Rankin evened things up with a high-sticking call 52 seconds later. ... Darryl Smith has finished this one up with an empty-net goal at 18:30 in the period. ... I have to assume Martin deserves a heck of a lot of credit for this one as he faced 39 shots in the game and allowed only one goal. Boucher allowed three on 25.

Game Over: Bucks win 4-1, improve to 31-18-4 (66 points) and head back home tonight to host the Sundogs again tomorrow.

Other Scores: Eagles 2, Mudbugs 1; Sundogs 1, IceRays 0 (SO); RiverKings 5, Blazers 4 (OT); Jackalopes 6, Scorpions 3; Brahmas 5, Gorillas 3; Rage 4, Oilers 2; Thunder 4, Rush 2.

NHL Scores: Canadiens 4, Flyers 3 (OT); Red Wings 2, Kings 1; Penguins 5, Blackhawks 4 (OT); Flames 4, Wild 1; Canucks 2, Lightning 1.

UPDATE: Buried at the bottom of Bryan's postgame press release is the fact that Gooch has been placed on the 14-day IR. I know it's an upper-body injury, but I hadn't realized it was bad enough to warrant an IR stay. It hasn't come up on the league transactions page, but will probably be retroactive to last weekend if not at least earlier this week.