First Period: If nothing else, Hiebert certainly threw his body around on that first shift. ... Chris Richards and Rivet just took simultaneous roughing penalties at 1:03 in the period to set up two minutes of 4-on-4. ... The Bucks took a too-many men bench minor at 4:25 to put the IceRays on the game's first legitimate power play. ... And then Steve Weidlich decided to jump Tobin at 5:05, so the two of them are now headed to the box. That was a little odd. ... People are in and out of both boxes while the refs talk this over with Quenneville and Rivet. It appears that three Bucks will be staying in as play continues. ... Weidlich got a cross-checking and a roughing, and Cullaton got an unsportsmanlike conduct, while Tobin took just a roughing call to put the IceRays on a 5-on-3 advantage for a little while here. ... Didn't take too long for Quenneville to capitalize on that, as he scored at 6:09 to give the IceRays a 1-0 lead. They'll keep the 5-on-3 here for 15 seconds. ... Matt Miller, who was serving one of Weidlich's calls, just came out of the box to make it 5-0n-4. ... That works for the IceRays, too, as they have taken a 2-0 lead on a goal by Crane on an assist from Tobin, who had just gotten out of the box himself. ... The Bucks just got a good 2-on-1 rush but couldn't capitalize. I'm thinking not playing hard won't be Ruskowski's issue after this period, but taking stupid penalties sure will be. ... Richards and Ryan Bennett have the assists on Quenneville's goal, and Tendler had the second on Crane's. ... After a failed Bucks scoring chance, Miller and Sladok dropped the gloves in Tebbs' right circle. At least that one wasn't a lame jump attack like the first but still nothing worth writing home about. Five for fighting apiece at 10:14. ... Erick Lizon just came out for the first time I've noticed and immediately got the puck in the high slot area and ripped a slap shot that Tebbs was lucky to have hit the post. ... The Bucks' top line just had a 3-on-2 chance but hesitated in moving up the ice and eventually got caught up to by the rest of the IceRays. ... End of the first period, IceRays lead 2-0 and are up 8-5 on shots.
Second Period: It took Hiebert all of 22:51 into his first game back to get into a fight...in which he took on Sladok, who has seven inches on him. Hiebert's fists don't look as fast as they were last season, which is odd because I know he's been training in a boxing gym, but he held his own against someone who clearly had him outsized. And, of course, the fans loved it. ... Tendler sure loves playing with the IceRays, and against the Bucks for that matter, and he has just scored on a breakaway to make it 3-o in the IceRays favor at 4:53 in the period. Tobin had the lone assist. ... Ryan Salvis had a decent chance on a pretty open net but missed wide. ... It seems Hiebert has been replaced on the top line by Mickey Gilchrist, but the lines are so back-and-forth right now I'm not sure how long anything will last. ... The Bucks just had what was probably their best chance of the period, with Miller taking a good shot and Jason Dixon firing the rebound, but Tebbs stopped both shots. ... I guess maybe Hiebert just isn't physically up to skating regular shifts again yet because he's back out with Cullaton and Smith and just fired a shot at Tebbs then seemed a bit confused as to what he should do when the puck came right back at him on the rebound. ... The IceRays just turned the puck over to Miller right in front of their own net, but Tebbs stopped him once again. Bucks are up 15-11 on shots at this point, by the way. ... Everyone is colliding into each other and just generally falling over the place, including some collisions between teammates. ... With 2:59 to play, Steve Cruickshank has called his first non-fighting penalties of the period, hooking on Alex Goupil and diving on Tobin. Time for some 4-on-4. ... The Bucks will now have 34 seconds of 4-on-3, then the rest of the period 5-on-4 thanks to an interference call on Leroux. ... Nothing doing. At the end of two, the IceRays lead 3-0; Bucks are up 16-14 on shots, meaning they outshot the IceRays 11-5 in this period.
Third Period: And now Goupil is the second winger on the top line. Consistency is just not this season's team's thing. ... Ummm, wow. I guess this isn't Martin's day anymore than it is anyone else on the Bucks. Adam Powell just shot the puck, probably without intention of scoring, from just inside the blue line and somehow got past Martin. I think this one might be done. ... Tobin took a tripping penalty at the 3-minute mark to put the Bucks on a power play, and the IceRays promptly cleared the puck and got a scoring chance of their own. ... Well, the Bucks got one, as Miller managed to get the puck over Tebbs while barreling over the goalie himself. IceRays lead 4-1 with 11:30 to play. ... The Bucks just took a penalty in their own offensive zone, never a good plan. Smith is headed to the box for tripping to put the IceRays on the power play at 10:30 in the period. ... Late in the game, Igor Agarunov is skating shifts as a defenseman. Not sure how to take that. ... Hiebert just jumped Quenneville to start a 5-on-5 fight that got the linesmen tangled up in it, as well. Guess James hasn't changed much since last April. ... The scene of gloves, helmets and sticks on the ice is quite amusing. Sadly, I was unable to snap a picture until Gilchrist and Richards were already out there picking up after their teammates. ... Okay, apparently Hiebert may have jumped Tobin. I really thought the guy he went after was smaller than him, but my vision is pretty weak, so who knows. Tobin got two for roughing, while Hiebert got four to put the IceRays on a power play for the remainder of this game, the 12th of 13 between these teams.
Game Over: IceRays win 4-1. Bucks fall to 31-21-5 (67 points) and are lucky that the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees lost those two points yesterday because if it weren't for that, the Killer Bees would have a chance to tie them in the standings on Tuesday.
2 comments:
Joy, have the IceRays become a better team, since they have a new coach or are the Bucks just really struggling? I ask, since you are @ the game and seeing all that is going on.
Honestly, it's a little bit of both. The Bucks without Jeff Bes are such an incredibly different team, and now he is officially out for the rest of the season, so they're going to need something to pick things back up. However, the IceRays are 4-3-1 under Brent Hughes and are definitely playing very well right now.
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