First Period: Interesting starting line for the Bucks. ... Early power play for the IceRays with Smith headed to the box just 36 seconds in, and that with the delayed call, for roughing. ... Chris Richards set Woollard up for a great chance on that advantage, but he missed the net wide. ... An errant pass by the IceRays hit Igor Agarunov's skate, springing him and Eric Giosa on a breakaway, but Giosa couldn't control the puck to get the shot off on that shorthanded chance. Bucks have yet to take a shot as that penalty expires, and the IceRays have taken only one. ... Good rush by the Bucks resulted in Cody Hamilton taking a shot that got stopped then went back out to the Bucks, who manged to knock the puck in, but the goal has been taken away on goaltender interference. We'll see if that comes back to bite them. ... Bucks will get their first power play of the game now at 6:25 with Powell in the box for holding. The Bucks were 0-f0r-8 on the advantage last night, including a late 5-on-3 chance. ... Not sure if this is just because Bes was out on the last shift, but the top power play unit at this point appears to be Agarunov-Smith-Maxime Lincourt with Jarred Mohr and Adam Rivet back on the points. ... Well, Bes came out there eventually, and because of it, the Bucks are up 1-0 at 9:12 in the period on his power-play goal. Sharp wrister from the top of the right circle. That was pretty much all Bes, but Looby and Evan Schwabe get assists. That's the first goal for Bes since Nov. 6 and his first point since Nov. 11. He's out there with Schwabe and Styffe today, by the way. ... The starting line was not actually the line Smith is playing with; he is centering Agarunov and Lincourt. Giosa is centering Sgroi and Robin Richards on the third line. Lance Monych's absence leaves the Bucks in an interesting situation forward-wise. ... Remember when I said the IceRays had taken one shot to zero by the Bucks? At 12:28 in the period, the IceRays still just have that one, while the Bucks are up to 11. ... Well, the IceRays are up to two, but Levasseur took care of that with a smooth glove save. ... Best chance of the game for the IceRays so far as Flath grabbed the rebound from a kick save by Levasseur, but Levasseur managed to tip it away. That second shot hasn't been added to the count, but the IceRays are up to four, rather than the three on the board. ... Bucks get a chance to up their shot count now, at least if they decide to shoot, as they get their second power play of the game at 15:17 thanks to a high-sticking call against Mei. ... Bucks are having a hard time setting up on the power play. Bes got his goal on the advantage, but it came when he was carrying the puck into the IceRays zone, not off a power-play induced opportunity. ... And now another questionable situation around the net, as Nastiuk made the save on a puck that appeared to have crossed the goal line prior to him getting a hold of it. No goal. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 1-0, up 15-4 on shots.
Second Period: Kyle Peto took a hooking call at 2:41 in the period to give the Bucks their third power play of the game. ... Bucks got a good chance, but then somehow gave Ryan Garbutt an incredible breakaway chance. He went one-on-one with Levasseur and lost, but that was an awful play for the Bucks to allow. ... The Bucks' Richards (Robin) seems to be trying to cause trouble at the expense of the IceRays' Richards (Chris), having made a point to walk right into him and almost knock him over as the teams were preparing for a faceoff. Interesting choice of target. ... Very nice defensive play by Styffe, who had to chase a pair of IceRays back into the Bucks' zone with Rivet and dove to get his stick out in front of Justin Quenneville threatening from just outside the crease. ... Bucks get another power play now as Garbutt is headed to the box at 8:48 for high sticking. ... Looby has given the Bucks a 2-0 lead on a slap shot from just about the middle of the blue line that somehow managed to get past Nastiuk, who did have a few bodies out in front of him. Jeremy Swanson and Smith get the assists on the goal, which was scored at 9:28 in the period. Second power play tally of the game, which isn't bad considering how awful the power play has looked at times. ... And make that 3-0 just 18 seconds later, as Styffe has scored his second goal in three games on a shot from in close. Bes and Schwabe get the assists on that one. Good forecheck work to create that opportunity for Styffe, who was skating through the circles toward the crease and went for the empty part of the net with Nastiuk firmly planted on his right side of the crease. ... Couple tests for Levasseur in the minute after those goals were scored, but he made the saves. ... IceRays are going on the power play now after Sgroi got tangled up with Jarvis and called for tripping at 10:53. They had a really close chance with the extra attacker before the whistle was blown, but Levasseur gloved it down. ... It has been determined that Smith tipped in Looby's shot on that second goal, which means Looby and Swanson now get the assists, while Smith has his second goal in two games and seventh of the season. ... The IceRays will go 5-on-3 for the next 63 seconds with Looby being sent to the box less than midway through Sgroi's penalty for high sticking. Bes, Mohr and Rivet are the first killing unit for this one. ... That was just too easy for the IceRays. Woollard knocked a perfect feed from Richards past Levasseur at 12:16 to cut the Bucks' lead to 3-1. That goal came with Sgroi still in the box, so the IceRays get the rest of Looby's penalty in its entirety. Tessier had the second assist on Woollard's goal. ... The majority of that kill was spent in the IceRays' zone, keeping the scoring chances to a minimum. ... Agarunov just broke the blade right off his stick on an attempted shot. ... One of the IceRays lost his helmet a while back and hasn't been able to get it back; wonder if they're having to break any lines up to work around that. ... Well, he can get it back now, as the Bucks have made it 4-1 on a classic "garbage goal" by Bes, who kept hacking away at the puck until it got into the net. Styffe set him up, but right now it's being announced as unassisted. ... Time for some drama, as IceRays head coach Brent Hughes has lost his cool and apparently tried to step onto the ice. He got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and after much debating, he is being kicked out of the game. The crowd loves it, but Hughes does not. He jumped over the boards upon being given the boot and is not a happy man walking to the dressing room. Quenneville, who is both the player/assistant coach and captain for the IceRays, should have fun for the rest of the game. In addition to Hughes being sent to the room, two IceRays are in the box to give the Bucks a full two-minute 5-on-3. Amazing how letting anything get under your skin can mess things up for your team so much. Woollard and Jeff Alcombrack are the guys in the box, one serving for too many men and one serving Hughes' penalty. ... The Bucks kept it in the IceRays' zone for most of that 5-on-3 but could not convert. As soon as it ended, Rivet hit the outside of the net with a slap shot, knocking off Nastiuk's water bottle, then Bes had a great chance right out front but couldn't send it home. ... Schwabe could, though, and the Bucks have taken a 5-1 lead with 15.7 seconds left in the period on a pretty nice goal by him. Good puck handling by Schwabe, who walked in on Nastiuk and faked him out before flipping the puck right over the goalie, who was sprawled out on the ice. Bes had the primary assist, and Giosa gets the other. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 5-1, up 31-14 on shots. Nastiuk, making his fifth straight start, is in a pretty ugly situation out there right now. ... The original conduct penalty was an actually an abuse of officials call, by the way, and Hughes was served with a coach ejection game misconduct.
Third Period: Kevin Desfosses out in net for the IceRays now. ... Lead has been cut to 5-2 as Morgan McLean jammed a rebound from a shot by Quenneville, who did most of the work on that one, past Levasseur. No second assist as of yet. That goal came just 1: into the period. No matter what happens, give Quenneville credit for stepping up after being put in a tough situation. ... I guess it's not like they're in dire need of goals, but the Bucks have missed two perfect opportunities in the past couple minutes. ... After a few non-calls on some possible trips, Dan Dreger has taken out the whistle to send Giosa to the box for that penalty and put the IceRays on the power play at 7:11. ... Hughes is in the stands directly across the ice from the press box and just waved when put up on the Jumbotron. ... Maybe those goals were more important than I first thought, as Garbutt has cut the Bucks' lead to 5-3. Tessier had the primary assist, not sure if there will be a second, but Quenneville was on the ice. ... And now the IceRays get a power play with Rivet in the box for high sticking at 10:11. Jarvis got the second assist on Garbutt's goal, by the way. ... Bes just set up Schwabe on a very deliberate play, but Schwabe's shot almost seemed to bounce of the inside of the net and back out, with Nastiuk grabbing onto it eventually. So many close calls for the Bucks tonight. ... Rivet got in on a rush right out of the box, but passes just didn't work out for the Bucks entering the IceRays' zone. ... Bennett just lost his helmet but stayed with the play to set up his trailer in Garbutt, who missed the net, then went in the corner against Swanson, but his work was for naught, as Garbutt took a high-sticking penalty at 14:29 to end that chance for the IceRays. Bucks on the power play. ... That has been negated by a tripping penalty on Bes. ... IceRays just came close to scoring, with the puck loose for what probably seemed like days to Levasseur right outside his net. ... Not long after Bes left the box, Looby is headed in there for high-sticking. Garbutt is bleeding, so the IceRays should get four minutes on the advantage. Or maybe not. Regardless, with only 2:35 left on the clock, the IceRays will be on the advantage for most of the rest of regulation barring any goals or additional penalties. ... Time out has been called, and it seems the IceRays are planning to pull their goalie for the upcoming faceoff in the Bucks' zone. They have 51.9 seconds to work with at this point. ... This one should be a done deal, with a shorthanded empty-netter with 43.4 seconds left in the game. That came right off the faceoff, which was won by Schwabe, and was scored by Rivet. Surprised they didn't have Bes out there to try for the hattie. Bucks lead 6-3.
Game Over: Bucks win 6-3, improve to 9-4-3 (21 points). IceRays fall to 7-8-2 (16 points). That's the first win for the Bucks over the IceRays this season. Not Levasseur's best game, though he didn't have much of a chance on a couple of those goals. He made 23 saves on 26 shots. Bes broke out of his scoring slump with a four-point game. Hopefully my post-game interviews will be a little easier today than last game. Three stars: Styffe (3), Schwabe (2) and Bes (1). Those are the ones announced on the ice, anyway.
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