First Period: Interesting starting lineup for the Bucks. ... Hiebert got the game's first shot about 45 seconds in after the puck was in the Jacks' zone for most of the time prior to that. ... Jeff Pierce utilized a takeaway in his team's zone to get the first good scoring chance of the game, but his shot missed wide. ... The top line remains Brent Cullaton-Darryl Smith-Jason Dixon with Hiebert back in the lineup. ... Play has been kept in the neutral zone most of the first few minutes with touch checks and sloppy open-ice hits providing the excitement lacking due to the sparing shots. ... Rick Kozak just got one off, but Toivonen gloved it only to have Serge Dube go after the puck in his closed glove hand. ... Not much later, the Bucks went flying into Toivonen and other Jackalopes around the net, resulting in a very mild scrum behind it. Borbeau andKozak were given the game's first two penalties, both roughing, as a result, so two minutes of 4-on-4 start now at 4:16. ... Ouch. Make it a 4-on-3 as Devin Featherstone lowered his stick to help defend against a turnover in his defensive zone only to have Kory Karlander trip right over it. That came 5:17 in, so he'll serve two for tripping, leaving the Jacks with a 4-on-3 for 59 seconds and a 5-on-4 for 1:01. Dixon, Dube and Rivet will do the honors for now. ... Another good penalty kill for the Bucks, who only allowed three shots, two in the early seconds of that power play. A couple big clears, though. ... The Jacks seem to not want to score on the power play this series, but they scored just eight seconds after Featherstone left the box as Swiniarski got his first goal of the postseason on a bad-angled shot that seemed to bang in past Martin off some iron. Bourbeau has what is currently the lone assist. ... And that odd line combination has tied it up for the Bucks just 46 seconds later as Hiebert brought the puck up the ice and fed it over to Snider, who fumbled a bit but managed to get a shot off and past Toivonen. Lizon gets the other assist on the score, which came at 8:11 in the period on the Bucks' sixth shot of the game. ... The Brahmas have a 1-0 lead over the Killer Bees. ... Another wide shot from the Jacks to waste a good opportunity, this time with Mike Ramsay missing the net. ... The Bucks just almost scored on themselves but were lucky to have the puck bounce off Martin and away from the net. They need to be more careful with the puck in their own end. ... Russell seemed to take down one of the Jacks and was in turn taken down by Van Drunen, but he's the only one headed to the box, for holding at 12:45, to give the Jacks their second power play. ... Ryan Palmer just took down Cullaton to earn a tripping call and make it 4-on-4 at 13:29. ... Adam Rivet wasted no time (or at least very little) taking advantage of that scenario to slap one in from the point, putting the Bucks up 2-1 at 13:53 in the period. Cullaton has what is currently the lone assist. ... The Jacks came on strong off the next faceoff but were stopped a couple times then had the puck cleared out of their offensive zone. ... Very close call there for the Jacks as Toivonen managed to get a toe on a shot and deflect it wide. ... Snider just took a rocket slap shot from Toivonen's right circle, had it stopped, then got completely flattened by one of the Jacks. They are definitely trying to bring their physical play up tonight. ... The Jacks just came very close to scoring on a delayed penalty call, as Martin made the initial stop but left the puck loose in the crease with the net pretty wide open. The whistle didn't blow until only 1:06 left in the period, and Smith is headed to the box for...about three seconds. Before they even announced the penalty, Moyer nailed one in from the high slot on an assist from Kelly, who won the faceoff cleanly. Tied 2-2 with 1:03 to play. The penalty was for board checking, by the way, and that was the Jacks' first power-play goal of the series after they led the league in goals scored on the advantage during the regular season. ... End of the period, game tied 2-2. Jackalopes lead 14-10 on shots. The Brahmas lead 1-0 at the other game's first intermission.
Second Period: Snider was very aggressive all first period and has come out that way in the second, then Hiebert was alone in front but couldn't get past Toivonen. Only 53 seconds into the period and already very intense stuff. ... The Jacks have taken an unsporstmanlike conduct penalty for something somone on the bench did, and Bernard will serve that starting at 1:32 to give the Bucks the first power play of the period. ... You know why I think Sebastien Thinel hasn't scored a playoff goal in years? He refuses to shoot the puck. Just had a great chance and chose to pass, only to have the pass broken up which gave me some deja vu because the same thing happened in the first period. ... The Killer Bees have tied that other game at 1 early in the second period. ... Apparently the team store is now selling shirts that read, "That's just Hiebert being Hiebert." I cannot tell you how many times I've heard that phrase, haha. ... And the Brahmas have the lead back just 15 seconds later. Ouch. ... Well, one of Thinel's passes finally connected, and Dominic Leveille scored as a result. Ryan Palmer had the initial pass to set up an odd-man rush for the Jacks, who were pretty much a sure thing to score on that chance. Jacks lead 3-2 at 10:42 in the period. ... Garrett Gruenke just loves fighting the Bucks, and this time it was Hiebert, who took the brunt of the blows in a brawl with the man about seven inches taller than him. Hiebert landed a few but seemed off balance for a while as Gruenke pummeled him. He came back with a few more, and there was a lot of dancing in that one, but I think you'd have to give it to Gruenke for sure. ... Gruenke got a roughing penalty in addition to the necessary fighting major, so the Bucks will be on the advantage for the fourth time tonight as Pierce serves that for his teammate. So, not only did Hiebert get his team and the crowd riled up and make a plug for that new shirt, but he got the Bucks a power play chance. Not too shabby for a lost fight. ... Martin just made a couple of stellar saves in a very short time span as clearing the puck is getting to be a problem for the Bucks again. ... Russell has just tied the game at 14:39 as he skated in at the just the right moment to wrist a rebound over Toivonen's shoulder. Smith was out there with him and has what is currently the lone assist. ... Upon further review, the puck had actually been deflected away from Toivonen by one of his defenseman and trickled right over to Russell's stick. That was a simple case of being in the right place at the right time. Good shot, though. ... Thinel finally took a shot, albeit a bad-angled one from behind the circle, but Martin was able to stop it easily. ... Moyer just lost his stick in taking down Vincent Zaore-Vanie and will now serve two for tripping. His reaction to Cruickshank's arm raise was pretty priceless, and he even skated over to literally touch the puck with his glove to stop play. Power play for the Bucks with 3:35 to play in the period. ... The Brahmas still lead 2-1 heading into the second intermission of their game. ... End of two here, game still tied 3-3. Jackalopes lead 27-15 on shots, and the Bucks' regroups and breakouts have been kind of lacking. We'll see if they can pick things up in the third.
Third Period: Pretty steady back-and-forth to start this one, which is somehow way behind the other game in spite of that one starting five-10 minutes later. ... Lizon has gotten the second assist on Russell's goal in the second period. Quite a mish mosh there. ... Zaore is headed to the box at 5:05 to give the Jackalopes the first power play of the period. ... And now Leveille is headed to his team's sin bin at 6:59 for slashing to make it 4-on-4 for six seconds, then the Bucks' first power play of the period. ... A Bucks' slap shot just missed the net by inches on the closest chance either team has had in a while, then the Bucks got another good one a bit later, but no dice. ... Goalie change for the Bucks with 8:12 to play, as Sebastien Centomo will replace Andrew Martin. Interesting. ... The Killer Bees' miraculous turnaround season has come to an end, with Texas scoring an empty-netter late to win 3-1. ... Toivonen is coming up huge for the Jacks down the stretch. ... Paul Gillis called a time out with 3:19 left on the clock to draw up a play for his team. We'll see if anything comes of that. ... Well, I've been trying to type up a story to allow for quote-getting time, but that won't be happening as we are headed to overtime once again. Centomo made some HUGE stops toward the end of that one, and got a little help from his crossbar. ... Brian Rae just said something about the fact that going into overtime makes that overnight trip even more of a pain, which reminded me of that whole thing. Poor guys, yikes. ... This is the third overtime of the series, so that tells you something about how well-matched these teams are. ... The Bucks outshot the Jacks 7-5 in the third but are being outshot 32-22 overall.
Overtime: Centomo will stay in net for the OT, so I am quite curious as to what happened to Martin. I'll have to call Coach Ruskowski tomorrow to ask about that and to see whether or not Matt Miller was a healthy scratch. ... I seriously hate quoteless game stories, but I guess that's the way it's going to be in this series. ... I really thought the Jackalopes just scored, but I guess the puck bounced off something before crossing the goal line. Very close call. ... This whole 5-on-5 for OT in the playoffs thing is so lame. ... Wow has Centomo been a wall in this OT. The Jacks are only listed at five shots, but I'm not sure that's quite right. ... Whoa, Dube just kinda jumped someone while Weidlich tussled with someone else. All this while Hiebert was on the ice and not messing with anyone. Twilight Zone, anyone? ... Dube and Bernard took matching penalty minors to make it 4-on-4 like it should be 10:56 into this OT period. ... Thinel just knocked Smith over, and Weidlich reacted by jumping Thinel. Possibly not the best decision at the current point in time. This game is killing me! ... Thinel was called for cross checking and Weidlich for roughing to make it 4-on-4 again. All that means is that if Weidlich hadn't taken that penalty, the Bucks would be on a power play right now. ... And now they will get it with a holding call against Gruenke with exactly one minute left on the prior penalties and 2:41 left on the clock. ... Toivonen just made a couple incredible saves then got knocked into his net by a group of Bucks attempting to chase a loose puck. ... Weidlich must have taken feisty pills this morning, yikes. He just jumped Gruenke then seemed willing to fight the linesman dragging him away to get back into it. He'll be in the box for the rest of this OT, as will Gruenke, it seems. ... Smith is being helped off the ice after all that, which is definitely bad news. ... Two minutes apiece for roughing. Fifteen seconds left on the clock. ... Gruenke skated out of the box to boos from the crowd, but he was just heading to the locker room, don't worry. ... Time for a second OT. Tomorrow is going to suck for these teams, absolutely suck. ... Obviously everyone wants a call for that hit by Van Drunen that took Smith out, but no such luck. Similarly, Rae wants something against Weidlich for running people down, and no dice there, either.
Second Overtime: A bit of 4-on-4 here to start, and I am quite certain Smith is still nowhere to be found. Poor kid. ... I'm not even sure what to blog and what not to blog anymore. Both teams have had some good chances, but the goalies have been solid and a few errant passes have helped them out. Just over five minutes into this OT, and things don't look guaranteed to end anytime soon. ... Centomo left the crease to chase a puck out in his left circle and immediately got forced back in to make a glove save on an on-target shot by the Jackalopes. ... Greg Rajan is going to love this. Thinel just deflected a shot by Jarad Bourassa to win the game for the Jackalopes 7:03 into the second overtime. I had to write a quick story so we could replate with it for the local editions, so my brain is shot right now. That was quite a game. The streak ends at 1,081, Greg.
NHL Scores: Flyers 8, Maple Leafs 5; Devils 5, Lightning 4; Sabres 5, Capitals 4 (OT); Thrashers 4, Panthers 1; Wild 4, Flames 0; Blackhawks 3, Predators 1.
1 comment:
The Bucks' defense is giving the Jacks' offense too much space coming into the offensive zone. They need to tighten up.
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