Semifinal Game No. 6

Darryl Smith and Serge Dube were both out for warmups as expected. Sebastien Centomo and Juha Toivonen will be starting in goal. Rick Kozak is the Bucks' scratch tonight.

Starters: Bucks -Igor Agarunov (D), Centomo (G), Jason Dixon (F), James Hiebert (F), Smith (F), Weidlich (D); Jackalopes - Jean Bourbeau (F), Paul Kelly (F), Russ Moyer (D), Ryan Swiniarski (F), Toivonen (G), Dave Van Drunen (D).

First Period: This is the only CHL game tonight, and you can follow it here or in the space to follow. ... Dixon obviously appreciates the chance to be up on what I believe is tonight's top line, and he worked pretty hard on that first 30-second shift, taking the game's first shot. ... Hopefully it's just my imagination, but it kinda looked like the Jacks were going after Smith (in a bad way) during that first shift. ... Brent Cullaton stole one to create another chance for the Bucks early in his first shift, then the Jacks brought the puck back to test Centomo for the first time. He made a kick save on that one. ... Jacks get the game's first power play with Hiebert headed to the box for slashing at 2:10 in the period. ... Dominic Leveille has the Jacks on the board at 3:11 on a pretty goal scored when a shot by Sebastien Thinel bounced loose after Centomo sprawled to make the save on it. Moyer gets the second assist. The crowd is pretty tiny here tonight, and it just got even quieter than it had been. ... And now it's the Bucks turn to go on the advantage with Garrett Gruenke headed to the his favorite place on earth for interference at 3:42. ... Tough breaks for the Bucks there as one shot went just wide, then a loose puck in the crease somehow managed to get knocked away. ... Smith just broke away with someone (Goupil or Hiebert, not sure) and had a great opportunity but had his shot gloved away. ... The majority of the play has been in the neutral zone for the past few minutes as neither team can seem to crack the other. Kinda looking a bit sloppy out there, actually. ... Vincent Zaore-Vanie just managed to stick handle the puck around the net, then tried a wraparound but missed and had no one there to knock his shot in on the open net. Zaore is headed to the box, though, so any goal may have been waved off anyway. Holding stick is the call, at 12:32. ... Well, no harm there. I'm guessing Coach Ruskowski is liking his decision to bring Shawn Snider in here as Snyder has just scored another huge goal, this time on a tricky backhand assisted by Cullaton at 12:56. Very good job taking advantge of a Jacks turnover in their own zone. I think Bryan Benway is hyperventilating. Game tied 1-1, but let's not forget the Jackalopes are still on the power play. ... I really need new contacts, but after nearly 15 minutes, I've finally noticed that Jeff Bes is behind the bench in his assistant coaching capacity. No wonder he's not up here in the press box. Glad to see that; I know he had wanted to be able to get out there. ... Thinel just snuck in with the closest Buck right behind him and took a shot on Centomo that the goalie somehow set aside. Huge save. ... Hiebert back to the box, this time for roughing, at 16:59 in the period. ... The Jacks have a 2-1 lead on a goal eerily similar to their first other than the scorer's position at the time. Phillippe Plante scored from just outside the crease on assists from Thinel and Moyer. Another case of Centomo making a save and needing his defense to clear the puck but having them do nothing of the sort. The goal came at 18:01 in the period, and oddly enough, the Jacks have only scored with Hiebert in the box tonight, and all three goals have come with the Bucks shorthanded. ... The whistle was blown with .9 seconds left on the clock, and the teams are leaving the ice with that still on the clock. Well, the Bucks, anyway. Okay, Jackalopes, too, now. Weird. Jacks lead 2-1 at the first intermission, up 11-9 on shots and 2-for-3 on the power play.

Second Period: Good pace to start this one and a couple good saves already. I know they always say every team has to start with strong goaltending, but perhaps these ones need to stop relying on theirs so very much. ... Matt Miller just had a close breakaway chance and Plante went about stopping that in a very unique way as he threw his own body under Miller to take him down and thus tossed Miller into Toivonen, who took out his own net. Plante will serve two for tripping, putting the Bucks on the period's first power play at 3:42. ... Ruskowski said he wanted more 5-on-5 offense, but he can't be thrilled with what his team has been doing on the power play tonight. ... Well, they get another chance right away as Leveille has been called for hooking at 6:13. Pretty early in that one, Toivonen made a great stop and Van Drunen cleared a loose puck to keep the Bucks from adding to their number on the scoreboard. Then Hiebert had a solo chance but was upended just in time to wrist his shot hight. Better effort overall by the Bucks, but still not great. ... Weidlich has been awfully feisty this series, eh? ... I'm surprised Iliana Davalos was okay with being the villain in that "Anything for Love" skit. ... Bobby Russell is headed to the box for cross-checking, and Van Drunen was kind enough to take out his own net to sell that call. Jacks on the power play at 10:17. ... The Bucks are being outshout 7-1 in this period. I know shots don't equal scoring chances per se, but that's still not good. ... Well, as Brian Rae keeps saying, the Bucks are putting themselves in front of the net, and they were playing pretty hard for a couple minutes there, so it was only a matter of time. Cullaton did a great job grabbing a pass of a turnover, then made a backhand pass when he saw he didn't have time to get the shot off himself, and Smith and Dixon were there. Dixon knocked it in to tie the game 2-2 at 13:16 in this second period. Cullaton and Smith get assists. ... I love it when someone does something that makes me shake my head then they leave the ice only to get screamed at by Ruskowski for the mistake. Not in a mean, but you get me. Hopefully. ... Zaore is headed to the box with 1:13 to play in the period on an interference call for semi-accidentally upending one of the Jacks in front of his own net. ... Lots of close calls both way tonight, but we'll head into the third period tied 2-2 as it stands that way at the end of two. Jackalopes lead 23-14 in the shot department.

Third Period: Bucks killed off the remaining 47 seconds of that penalty without allowing a shot. Ties have often led to things not ending in the Bucks' favor this series, so we'll see how this turns out. ... Hiebert is headed back to the box for the first time since the first period at 7:32 in the third for high sticking. You know what happened the last two times he was in there, so let's see if the trend can be bucked, if you will. ... Very intense few minutes here, and Centomo just stopped play with a save between his pads, one of many impressive ones he's made tonight. Just over seven minutes to play. ... Oh my gosh. The puck was flying all over the Jacks' offensive zone and Centomo just keeps stopping it, then he bounced up from making one save to glove a puck that the Jacks thought was for sure the go-ahead goal. Very impressive. ... This period is seriously nuts. Toivonen got dragged out of his net to make a save and a puck somehow stayed loose for what seemed like an eternity only to get knocked in by Alex Goupil with just 6:14 left in the game. Bucks lead 3-2. That was about as intense as it can get, and the Bucks need to keep that momentum if they want to win this game, much less the series. Wow. ... Toivonen must be getting pretty worked up because Miller just hooked his leg a bit, then Toivonen responded by taking a full-on whack at Miller's leg. ... That wasn't a penalty, but Weidlich just took out Kelly to earn one with 3:07 to play. He'll serve two for tripping to put the Jackalopes on their seventh power play of the game. ... The Jacks have pulled Toivonen, and the Bucks just hit the post on their first empty-net chance. ... Icing on the Bucks with 43.5 seconds to play. ... And Paul Gillis will take this opportunity to use his time out and draw up a play for his team. ... Centomo made a glove save outside the net on the first shot of this 6-on-5 to stop the clock with 38 seconds to go. ... Oh boy. Leveille tied it up with 34.2 seconds to go. Thinel on the assist again. This time it's Rae hyperventilating, and I'd have to say that was a pretty deflating series of events for the Bucks. ... Overtime once again. I have to imagine Ruskowski is giving them one hell of a speech right now. ... I'm being a creep and looking over the Jacks' video guy's shoulder to watch a replay of the goal, which shows Leveille breaking free of the man assigned to him to collect a rebound of a shot by Thinel and snap it right past Centomo. If nothing else, this has been a pretty exciting game. Time to start the first take of my game story...which will hopefully at least get a final score in it! ... Oh, and how big does missing that empty net look right now? Ouch.

Overtime: Agarunov broke up an early pass that could have created a great chance for the Jacks, so kudos to him for proving that playing as a forward sometimes hasn't deteriorated his defensive capabilities. ... The pushing and shoving is back in full effect, but the Bucks might want to be careful to stay out of the box for needless penalties right about now. Just saying. ... Leveille and Thinel just had a 2-on-1, but Centomo positioned himself up against the post to stop it. ... Centomo sure is one busy man. ... Game over, Jacks win. Surprised the Bucks can actually handle shaking their hands right now. Anyone want to go do my postgame interviews for me? ... Ruskowski just wished the Jacks luck in the next series and thanked the fans with all his players on the ice to pay tribute to everyone in the stands.

Game Over: Jackalopes win 4-3, win the series 4-2 and knock the Bucks out of the playoffs. I'm still in the press box as of 11:15 and should probably get out of here, but I'll have my leftover quotes from postgame interviews and such tomorrow. And, of course, you can see some of what Ruskowski and Gillis had to say in tomorrow's Times.

Tonight's NHL Scores: Hurricanes 9, Islanders 0; Capitals 4, Thrashers 2; Rangers 3, Canadiens 1; Flyers 2, Panthers 1; Maple Leafs 4, Devils 1; Senators 3, Bruins 2; Penguins 6, Lightning 4; Wild 3, Stars 1; Blackhawks 4, Predators 2; Kings 2, Oilers 1; Blues 5, Coyotes 1; Canucks 4, Flames 1; Sharks 1, Avalanche 0 (SO).