Mickey Gilchrist is back in the lineup for the Bucks tonight, and Andrew Martin will be getting the start in goal.
First Period: The Bucks were in control for the first couple minutes but couldn't do anything with the puck, and Jozef Sladok took advantage of their miscues to score his first goal of the season. Goal came 2:17 into the period, and Ryan Bennett had the assist. ... Weidlich has taken the game's first penalty, hooking at 3:06, to make the Bucks shorthanded while down 1-0. ... Chris Richards kept going after the puck after Martin had already covered it up, but Steve Cruickshank hadn't blown the whistle yet, so the Bucks on the ice stepped in to start a shoving match. ... John Adams tried to check Erick Lizon but got there a little late and ended up slamming himself into the boards. He tried to skate off, but play came back into his zone, so he had to wait until the end of his shift and seemed pretty perturbed when he finally got back to the bench. ... Zaore and Mark Tobin somehow got tangled up and went flying down the ice together. Weird. ... As of about 11 minutes in, the Bucks are being outshot 7-2. ... After I said that, no shots were taken for about 3:30, but the IceRays had the next one, too. ... Though they haven't really been able to do much so far, I like the idea of this Gilchrist-Jason Dixon-Alex Goupil line. If Dixon and Goupil could start clicking the way they did at the beginning of the season again, I think Gilchrist could be a great third piece for that puzzle. We'll see how much time they get to try, though. ... Jeff Grant and Greene both came close to scoring, but Grant's shot got stopped after being bobbled for a bit and Greene missed the net just wide. ... Smith did his best to put the entire team on his back by going 1-on-5 against all the IceRays on the ice, but his shot went wide. ... Cullaton got the puck in the high slot with no one nearby, prompting the rather small crowd to yell, "Shoot!" He did, but he also missed wide. According to the board, the Bucks took two shots that entire period, while the IceRays took 12. I think the Bucks may have actually had three, but I'm not going to argue with that.
Second Period: The other game that means something to the teams in this building will be starting in a couple minutes, so I'll posting updates on that one when necessary. Hopefully it will end in time for me to incorporate the result into my story. ... About a minute into the second period, the Bucks have finally taken their third shot. Exciting stuff, eh? ... And another one just 22 seconds later. ... And, as of 1:40 into the period, the Bucks have taken more shots in the second than they did in the entirety of the first. ... This game is seriously bizarre. Lizon just skated in on Tebbs and took a shot that Tebbs seemed to have stopped underneath his body, but then it was suddenly squeaking across the goal line. Game tied 1-1 at 2:13. Serge Dube has the lone assist. ... John Halverson is headed to the box for tripping at 2:55, giving the Bucks their first power play of the night. Lasting nearly 23 minutes without taking a penalty this season is pretty impressive, but I guess it couldn't go on forever. ... Justin Quenneville blocked a shot by Brent Cullaton to create a scoring chance shorthanded but was tired and needed to get off the ice. His teammates didn't do such a great job keeping his momentum going, as they allowed a run that ended in a textbook play and a goal by Agarunov, who scored on a nice pass from Goupil. I believe Smith is picking up the second assist. Bucks lead 2-1 at 4:18 in the period. ... Grant just passed the puck right to Lizon, who promptly passed it over to Bennett. Are these guys having trouble remembering which team they play for or something? ... Josh Bonar just had a chance rushing up with Miller, but Jeremy Leroux broke up the pass and that was the end of that. ... Smith and Cullaton just created a chance of their own, but Cullaton backhanded the puck wide. ... The Sundogs have jumped to a 1-0 lead over the Killer Bees on a goal by Tyler Liebel just 2:17 into their game. ... After the Bucks dominated the first few minutes of this one, the IceRays came on strong, but Martin and some bad luck kept them from adding to their numbers on the board. Well, the one that matters, anyway. ... The IceRays are seriously fond of running themselves into the boards tonight. ... The Killer Bees have tied that game at 1 on a power-play goal by Evan Rankin. ... The Bucks just got another big chance but didn't stay on the puck long enough to get it by Tebbs, who was being dragged out of his net to stop the first shot. I obviously would never advocate going after the puck when the goalie already had it, but that was loose right outside the crease and the Bucks just gave up on it. ... Goupil just broke away and probably could have had a decent chance by himself but waited too long for Smith, who was trailing, and eventually had a pass broken up in the slot. ... Lizon and Gilchrist just made a sandwich of Halverson behind the IceRays net, and though all three of them ended up on the ice, no one seemed any worse for the wear. ... I forgot to mention this earlier, but Goupil has been moved up to the top line alongside Smith and Cullaton in the place of Lizon. So much for him getting a chance to click with Dixon and Gilchrist. ... After a while of back-and-forth play, Devin Featherstone is headed to the box on a tripping call. There are 2:07 left in the period, so the IceRays will be on the advantage for most of the rest of it. ... Salvis just broke away shorthanded, but Quenneville was able to catch him and break up any chance for a play. ... Not much later, Miller got a breakaway chance and was stopped, but then following the play, Adam Powell flew into Adam Rivet and shoved him onto his back. Obviously, the rest of the Bucks did not take kindly to that, and neither did Rivet, so we got a minor brawl going. Powell was escorted off the ice, but that's all for now. ... Cruickshank and Dube are having quite the verbal battle right now. At least they're fired up. ... Okay, now I get why Dube was so mad. Powell just came back out on the ice, yet Rivet is in the box for tripping. Wow, just wow. ... Tebbs has been pulled with 2.4 seconds to go to give the IceRays a 6-on-4, but no dice. They also had four seconds of a 5-on-3, but obviously nothing doing on that, either. A lot of people must be fuming right about now. ... I guess so, because Ruskowski just sent Cullaton over to Cruickshank to yell some more. ... The Killer Bees are now up 2-1 on a goal by Matt Byrnes. ... Bucks outshot the IceRays 15-8 in that period, so the IceRays' shot lead for the game is down to 20-17. ... Kurtis Dulle tacked on another for the Killer Bees before the first intermission, so they now lead 3-1 after one.
Third Period: I somehow forgot the Bucks were starting this one on a kill until they came back out on the ice. IceRays are now 0-for-3 on the power play. ... Well, as soon as they were off that, they decided to take another penalty, but Crane scored during the delayed call to tie the game at 1:59 in the period. Grant has what is currently the lone assist, which reminds me that an assist was given to Tobin on the first IceRays goal. ... Martin just allowed a huge rebound that somehow turned into a 2-on-1 for the Bucks, with Salvis and Agarunov going up against Crane. Their passing wasn't quite right, but Crane took a tripping penalty on the play to put them on the advantage at 4:32. ... Just five seconds into that, the whistle blew again and Richards and Smith were each sent to the box for holding. ... Right off the impending faceoff, Cullaton gave the Bucks the lead back with a wrist shot from the top of the circle. That power-play score came at the 5-minute mark precisely, and Agarunov currently has the lone assist. ... The Killer Bees are now up 4-1 on a goal by one of my former schoolmates. ... The IceRays just got close a couple times but were either stopped or missed the net wide on each shot. ... And now they have tied the game on a goal just like the flukey one Lizon scored earlier. Adams scored it, and Martin seemed to have stopped it, but in it went. Cruickshank seemed to have blown the puck dead but changed his mind and is now getting chewed out by the crowd and Ruskowski. Richards and Quenneville with the assists; thank goodness Quenneville finally got a point for all the work he's been doing in this game. It's 3-3 with 11:49 to play. ... Halverson is headed to the box for high-sticking at 10:29 to put the Bucks o their third power play. They're 2-for-2 so far. ... Lizon just almost got the puck in on a wraparound, but the net came off the posts, and now there is some confusion as to what exactly is going on. ... The result of all that was a delay-of-game penalty on Powell, which will put the Bucks on the power play again at 13:05. ... And the Bucks are now 2-for-4 on the advantage. ... It's now 5-2 out in Prescott Valley. ... Apparently Powell actually poked in that last IceRays' goal, so the assists will now be going to Adams and Richards. ... Time for some OT.
Overtime: Rivet got the first shot of the OT period 14 seconds in, but Tebbs had an easy time stopping it against his chest. ... Apparently Dixon and Goupil will play together on offense with the defensive duos staying the same. That allows for a Cullaton-Smith duo, too. ... Quenneville just got a good shot off on Martin, but the goalie kicked it away. ... Killer Bees up 6-2 now. ... Second shootout in a week's time. At least it's not too late.
Shootout: Dixon up first and no luck. ... Bennett almost snuck it around Martin, but he got it with his skate. ... Judd now, and he got stopped. ... Leroux missed wide. Anyone want to score? ... Cullaton gets stopped with the glove. ... Tendler finally broke onto the board with some beautiful fakery and an easy shot into the top shelf once Martin was down. ... Smith tried something similar but missed high. Richards can win it. ... And he did. Oh boy.
Game Over: IceRays win 4-3 in the shootout, but the Bucks could still clinch tonight if things stay the way they're going in Prescott Valley. ... And they have clinched, as the Sundogs lost 7-3. I don't think Ruskowski would advocate anyone celebrating tonight, though!
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