As always, those of you not in attendance for tonight's game you can follow it here or on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.
Due to the special sweaters being worn for the Día de la Revolución, Mike Sgroi will be No. 17 tonight, while Jean-Philippe Levasseur is in No. 33.
First Period: Monych got a great chance less than 20 seconds into the game, as a pass found his stick right in front of Martin, but a Jackalopes defender was able to keep him from taking advantage of that. ... At about 1:45, Mike Lesperance got the Jackalopes' first good opportunity and whiffed on a puck in the slot. The Jacks got their first shot of the game seconds later, but it was easily stopped. ... The Jacks just took a barrage of shots on Levasseur but had some passing issues on what could have been their best chance. ... On a bit of a weird play, neither team won the faceoff, leaving the puck on the dot for one team or the other to grab, and the Jackalopes were that team. They took a shot, but it went right to Levasseur's chest. ... The Jackalopes are definitely the more physical team so far in this one; if that keeps up, the Bucks should not expect a very kind review at intermission. The Jacks are also already up 10-3 on shots under six minutes into the game. ... The Jackalopes are pretty strong on faceoffs, too. I can't recall seeing the Bucks win one so far. ... A hooking call against Pierce at 8:22 in the period is putting the Bucks on the game's first power play. ... Bucks created some chances but couldn't put any them home. Penalty killed. ... On yet another faceoff, the Jacks got yet another faceoff win. The large number of covered saves, pucks out of play and offsides calls already this period has created quite a faceoff fast, and the Bucks just can't seem to win them. ... Sgroi just skated in offsides on what could have been the Bucks' best chance of the game with Maxime Lincourt on a breakaway. Having a guy like that out there for regular shifts doesn't seem to be doing the Bucks much good. ... Pierce is in the box again at 13:02, this time for cross-checking Justin Styffe and crushing him up against the boards. Bucks are on their second power play. ... Evan Schwabe brought the puck in and took a shot that was saved then bounced out onto Sgroi's stick and Sgroi backhanded it wide of the rather open net. Overall, that didn't look like much of a power play. ... Eric Giosa just got the Bucks a rare faceoff win, but no one grabbed the puck , so Paul Kelly stuck his stick between Giosa's skates and pulled it into his team's possession. ... Remember what Coach Ruskowski said about being disciplined? I doubt having his captain getting called for interference to put the Jackalopes on their first power play with just over three minutes in the first was what he had in mind. ... Nice defensive play by Philippe Plante as the Bucks got a shorthanded breakaway and Mike Looby's pass for Lance Monych in perfect position was broken up by the stick of a sprawling Plante. ... With 2.8 seconds left in the period, the Bucks are on the board on a play Martin wishes he could have back. Lincourt worked the puck out of the corner and sent it over to Schwabe, who took a shot, then stayed in front of the net to backhand his own rebound around Martin into the net. Sgroi is getting the second assist. The goal song tonight is quite intense. One last faceoff before the period ends. ... I'm not sure if Schwabe won that one or Circelli just let him have it, but ending the period with that goal was certainly a great way to get the crowd into the game and knock the Jackalopes down a bit. Schwabe did quite the intense fist pump to celebrate. Anyway, end of the period, Bucks lead 1-0. Jackalopes are up 13-8 on shots. Did I mention it's pretty hot in here? The AC has been broken all week, as I'm sure any of you who are here have noticed. This is the warmest I've ever been at a hockey game in my life. ... Okay, I didn't think that assist to Sgroi was right. It's been changed to Mohr.
Second Period: Lincourt set up a perfect chance for Sgroi pretty early in this one, but the puck just missed Sgroi's stick. Not sure if that was the fault of the passer or attempted pass recipient, but the odds of that being a goal if he had gotten to it are pretty high. At least if he didn't miss the net. ... I have to say, the Jackalopes are not playing nearly as strongly as I would have expected. Don't get me wrong, Levasseur has had to make some pretty good stops on them, but they are missing passes and making some sloppy moves that I didn't expect of a team that had an eight-game win streak prior to last night and is outscoring the rest of the league rather dominantly. ... Smith was just on the ice for nearly two full shifts and closed out his extended stay with a nice check. Guess he isn't letting that shield get him down too much. ... Two consecutive penalties against the Bucks now, the first excusable because it prevented a shot on a 2-on-1 chance, but the second not so much. Mohr will be serving two for high sticking with Robin Richards already in the box for that original hooking call. First penalty at 12:01, second at 12:11, so this is a 110-second 5-on-3. Yikes. ... Thirty seconds left on that, and so far, the Bucks are taking care of business. Couple great momentum saves by Levasseur, who has been very careful not to allow any rebounds. ... A time out was jut taken, and I'm honestly not sure which coach took it. Sorry about that, but they're blaring music over the PA announcements, and I didn't see anyone signal. ... After what I just saw, I have to share a story that I hope doesn't do any jinxing. When the Penguins were playing the Ducks the other night, I was watching the game online on a site that has a chat run live alongside the game, and a random Ducks fan said he thought it was about time they call up Jean-Philippe Levasseur. If he was at this game, he'd be calling his team to demand that at this point. Considering Ruskowski felt it was a guarantee that the Jacks would score on a 5-on-4, I'm sure even he is stunned by how well his team held up on that 5-on-3. Conversely, Paul Gillis can't be very happy right now. The Jacks have taken 24 shots so far to the Bucks' 11 with 4:49 to play in the period. ... Sorry I didn't mention this sooner, but with Agarunov back in the lineup, he's playing on a line with Giosa at center and Justin Styffe on the other wing. ... Hooking call at 19:21.7 has sent Lincourt to the box and put the Jackalopes on the power play for the remainder of the period. ... The PK is looking really good tonight. End of the period, Bucks lead 1-0 despite being down 25-13 on shots.
Third Period: Thirty-four seconds into the final period, Pierce has tied the game on a power-play goal to break Levassuer's shutout on the 26th shot he's faced tonight. ... Errr, and now it's 2-1 Jackalopes, as Mike Lesperance has scored at 2:30. The puck just crawled across the goal line on that one. I think the off-ice officials have some kind of vendetta against the Jackalopes getting points, as they are calling both goals unassisted. ... And we are now tied at 2. Funny how when you battle for the puck on the boards, good things tend to happen. Pretty sure they're trying to award this goal to a guy who wasn't even on the ice. Meanwhile, it was actually Lincourt. ... Okay, they got the scorer right before they announced it, but they're saying Rivet got the assist, but he wasn't out there, either. Pretty sure it was Mike Looby. ... Styffe and Van Drunen are having words right now, resulting in a bit of a congregation to Levasseur's left. No punches seem to be getting thrown. ... Smith is in the box for roughing at 7:41 in the period. ... Didn't take them long to take advantage of it, as the Jacks have taken a 3-2 lead on a goal by Circelli assisted by Thinel and Plante. Still 12:05 to go in regulation. ... The Bucks just had the puck in the Jackalopes' zone for quite some time, but missed nets, blocked shots and a couple saves by Martin kept this thing 3-2 in his team's favor. ... I really agree with the "Refs, you suck" chants, but Sgroi did get robbed of a call there as he was blatantly taken down by a Jackalopes player while skating in on Martin. Oh well. ... Bucks are getting a power play now with 4:49 left in regulation, as has been called for interference. ... Holy crap, what a weird goal. And weird celebration, haha. Looby just took a weak slapper from the left point that hit iron and no one seemed to realize had actually gone in the net until they noticed Looby doing a happy dance back behind the rest of the players on the ice. Lincourt has what is currently the lone assist, and we are tied once again. ... Sgroi is trying his best to get that first fight with the Bucks, but no one is biting, and the refs don't really seem up for letting him go at it with anyone right now. ... Oh my gosh, Sgroi has seriously gotten every opportunity in the book tonight and been stoned on every shot he's managed to get off. I swear, I feel like he's been on the ice for every other shift. ... Yeah, this team just never wants me to be able to get quotes after a night game. End of regulation, tied 3-3. Jacks up 34-22 on shots. OT once again.
Overtime: Only one of the Bucks' home games this season hasn't gone to OT. This is quite the trend they've developed. At least they didn't blow a lead they'd held for 26:25 with 30 seconds left this time. ... Not much doing in the first minute-plus. ... Agarunov got left alone on what would have been a great chance if he hadn't been on the end of a long shift. ... And now the Bucks lost out on a great odd-man rush when Giosa's shot missed the net. ... Well, apparently Mohr can have a temper. He just tackled Leveille from behind after the latter party offended him somehow, and he was yelling at him quite spiritedly. Too bad he's not wearing a mic. He didn't even get a penalty on that, pretty impressive. Alex Dunn did, however, so the Bucks are on a 4-on-3 power lay for a minute, starting with 2:24 left in the OT period. ... Power play over. ... And this is going to a shootout. Seriously, I'm starting to think these players hate me.
Shootout: Not going to be able to live blog this entirely, as I have to write my story, but the Bucks have opted to shoot first in their fourth straight home-game shootout. ... Okay, sorry, have to share that Smith got stopped then knocked in his rebound, and the crowd thought it counted as a goal. ... Levasseur stopped the first Jacks' shooter, and then Martin stopped Giosa's go-to move that has scored in the past two shootout wins. ... Okay, Circelli was the only guy to score in the shootout as the Jacks win.
Game Over: Jackalopes win 4-3, improve to 12-2-1 (25 points). Bucks fall to 7-2-3 (17 points).
2 comments:
Some players have to go. Sick and tired of this team losing!!!
I look up to them, spend money on the team and this is what i get :0............
It's really mind bloggling how our Bucks can't hold on to a lead. How many times has this happened to us where we lead the game just to squander it away. We can't affort to give away points by going into overtime or a shootout. Bucks played hard against Odessa but obviously we're not in their league yet! At this point I'm sure we even belong in this league. It seems that they depend on J.P. Levassuer to get the win. It's not always going to happen. How many times can you afford to go to the well before you run it dry?
C'mon Bucks!
Post a Comment