Game No. 61 - Bucks at IceRays

Sebastien Centomo and Kris Tebbs (surprise, surprise) are your starting goaltenders.

First Period: Mickey Gilchrist put the IceRays on the game's first power play with a tripping call at the 2-minute mark. The IceRays' success against the Bucks has often depended on their special teams, so let's see how this goes. ... You can also follow most of what I'll be able to tell you about this game here. ... Right when I was wondering if anything was going to happen that I could actually see in the box score, Chris Shaffer took a hooking call at 7:53, and Darryl Smith turned that opportunity into a power-play goal at 8:58. Bucks lead 1-0, Erick Lizon (On the top power-play unit?) and Serge Dube had the assists. ... End of the period, Bucks still lead 1-0, but the IceRays are up 10-6 on shots. Maybe giving Centomo some serious competition by starting Martin against the Texas Brahmas has had the desired effect. ... Okay, the Bucks' shot total just got upped to eight.

Second Period: An Adam Rivet hooking penalty at 7:57 is the first thing to pop up on the box score for the middle stanza. Well, other than the Bucks outshooting the IceRays 3-2 to start it. ... The power play killed the shot lead, as the IceRays took two to go up 4-3 on shots in the period. ... Chris Richards went to the box for high-sticking at the 11-minute mark, but nothing doing on that power play. ... Bucks will take that 1-0 lead into the second intermission now. IceRays outshot them 8-7 in the period and are up 18-15 on shots for the game.

Third Period: Steve Weidlich and Igor Agarunov took simultaneous penalties (for roughing and hooking, respectively) at 4:46 in the period to put the IceRays on a 2-minute 5-on-3. Justin Quenneville needed 1:09 of that to tie the game with a goal assisted by Richards. ... Still tied up at the end of regulation, so the Bucks and IceRays will each be getting at least one of the points they need to secure their desired playoff spots. ... IceRays outshot the Bucks 11-7 in the final period of regulation.

Overtime: Two shots for the IceRays, one for the Bucks, and that's about it. Shootout time.

Shootout: Smith scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Bucks a 2-1 win. Nice way to open the week that will likely end in him being named Rookie of the Year. Jason Dixon, Brent Cullaton and James Hiebert were up before him, while Centomo stopped Adam Powell, Jereme Tendler, Richards and the newest IceRay Nick Romano before Smith's goal, then stopped Quenneville to give the Bucks the win.

Game Over: Bucks win 2-1, improve to 34-22-5 (73 points) and are within one point of clinching the No. 3 seed. A Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees' loss to the Odessa Jackalopes tomorrow night would do it, or the Bucks will have to take care of business themselves later in the week. Coach Ruskowski is up to 499 career coaching wins.

NHL Scores: Thrashers 5, Capitals 1.