First Period: Not sure how I feel about the design of the Eagles' jerseys, but I really like that shade of blue. ... And just 15 seconds into the game, the Eagles are going on the power play after Rivet tripped one of them near center ice. They are 21.2 percent on the advantage so far this season. ... Elliott gets his first shift of the game on the penalty kill. ... Rivet almost got a breakaway out of the box, but the pass went beyond his reach and resulted in an icing call against the Bucks. ... Not sure if they're just starting off slow, but the Eagles don't look nearly as good as Coach Ruskowski made them sound. ... The Eagles just thought they scored but have been told by the refs that they did not. Kevin McClelland is not a happy man. I think they thought Gajewski had the puck under control before it really did and blew the whistle when they should not have, but that happens every day, and it can't result in a goal. ... Right off a faceoff, Birnie has taken a tripping penalty to put the Bucks on their first power play at 2:56 in the game. ... Bucks able to get their first shot of the game in the first shift on that power play, but Mole covered it up. ... The next one wasn't so easy for him to find, and Robin Richards has given the Bucks a 1-0 lead at 3:35 in the period with a "garbage goal" on a loose puck originally sent into the crease by Evan Schwabe, who will get the primary assist. At least that's how they're calling it for now. No replay, and everything around the net was a mess, so that might change. ... Elliott really hasn't moved around the ice too much in his shifts so far, but he doesn't appear to be puking his guts out on the bench, so I guess that's a good sign. ... Former Buck Alex Penner has managed to draw some shoving in front of the Bucks' net, which is funny because I had assumed he'd be starting any trouble he would get involved in tonight. ... Bucks back on the power play with a hooking penalty on Birnie at 7:02. ... And the Bucks are now 2-for-2 on the advantage tonight as Mole totally misplayed a less-than-intimidating shot from the outer circle by Bes, which slid easily into the net to Mole's right as he camped out on his left. Bucks lead 2-0 at 8:29. Schwabe again gets the primary assist. Still not sure if there was a secondary on the first goal as Pointstreak appears to be down again. ... Bucks get another power play, their third before the midway point of the first period, with Fraser Filipic going to the box to serve a too-many-men bench minor. ... And now Penner is joining him on an unsportsmanlike conduct call. Bucks get a full two minutes of 5-0n-3 starting at 9:57. ... Just as I was wondering if the Bucks were going to take a single shot on that advantage, Rivet sort of faked a shot, then passed to Griffith down low and he scored his first goal with the Bucks this season in his first game back with them to give the Bucks a 3-0 lead at 11:35 in the period. They still get the last 22 seconds of Penner's penalty as the goal only let Filipic out of the box. Richards gets the second assist on that one, but I'm still not sure if secondaries were handed out on any others. ... Guess McClelland has decided having Mole in there isn't the best idea, as Andrew Penner is taking over in goal for the Eagles at 11:35. If someone told you that the Eagles would need to be pulling their goalie after the Bucks took a 3-0 lead in the first period of this game prior to tonight, would you have believed them? I don't think McClelland would have. ... Steve Haddon has cut the lead to 3-1 on the Eagles' eighth shot of the game at 13:07 on a pretty pass from a teammate yet to be identified, who did a nice spin move to evade his coverage on the play. Pretty sure Haddon was Elliott's assignment, just saying. ... Eric Giosa just got roughed up a bit, resulting in another power play for the Bucks at 13:43 in the period. Birnie to the box once again, this time for a four-minute double minor - roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct. ... Haddon just missed his second of the game as his shot on a rebound went over the net. Eagles have taken back the shot lead with the Bucks on the power play. ... Okay, this is seriously getting ridiculous. Bucks are going on their sixth power play of the game at 17:49 in the period with Aaron Schneekloth headed to the box for hooking. ... Mohr has quite a violent fist pump, and he just used it upon scoring with four seconds left on that power play to make it 4-1 Bucks at 19:44 in the period. This is obviously a team Mohr has played a lot of games against, and I'm sure it felt nice to score against them. Mark O'Leary gets the primary assist on that one, the Bucks' fourth power-play goal of the night. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 4-1, up 13-11 on shots. I really hope Pointstreak starts working again soon. ... Oh, hey, it is working. All I've found that I didn't know previously is that Nelson can be credited with the nice assist on Haddon's goal and that Bes is getting a secondary on Mohr's.
Second Period: Eagles starting to look a little more like themselves outshooting the Bucks early in this one and drawing a tripping call against Smith at 3:13 to go on their first power play since the opening minute of the game. ... Gajewski just made a save that might have surprised even him as he gloved a hard shot from the Eagles' power play. ... Schwabe just got a chance shorthanded but held up for his trailer and couldn't get anything going once everyone caught up to the play. ... Penalty killed. ... Bucks get their first power play of the period now with Haddon going to the box for interference at 6:07. ... Holy cow, two players just collided into the glass and knocked an entire pane of it out into the crowd. I always wondered how well they put the rink back together after concerts, and now I'm going to have to guess not so well. No players went flying through, and it seems everyone sitting in that section is fine, though certainly startled. The delay to get this fixed just adds to the already lengthy game time, so I'm guessing this will be a no-quote night. The reaction of the Eagles player who sent the glass flying was pretty priceless. Too bad I don't have good enough vision to be able to tell who it was or how his face looked after that one. ... Back to play just a couple minutes later. ... Styffe just put one in the crease that Andrew Penner couldn't gather, but it wasn't banked in or put in by Giosa, the closest Buck to the play, so the score remains 4-1. ... And now Giosa is going to the box for hooking at 10:59 to give the Eagles a power play. ... Schwabe being sent to join him for hooking at 11:42, giving the Eagles a 5-on-3 for 1:17. ... Schneekloth just knocked in a rebound at 12:16 to cut the Bucks' lead to 4-2. Ed McGrane and Jackson get the assists, and the Eagles stay on the power play for 1:26 with Schwabe staying in the box. ... Eagles have built up a 25-19 lead on shots as of the end of that power play. ... Pointstreak and the off-ice officials in the press box say McGrane had that goal, but I'm sticking with the PA announcement that probably came from the on-ice officials because I really could've sworn I saw a 3 on the back of the jersey of the goal scorer, and Schneekloth wears No. 23. ... Make that shot lead 30-19. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 4-2, Eagles up 31-19 on shots.
Third Period: Nelson has cut the lead to 4-3 just 41 seconds into the period with a nice shot from the low slot. Ulanski and Haddon getting the assists. ... With the Eagles' shot lead now 35-19, the Bucks have been outshot 24-6 since the first period, and it's not like their 13 shots in the first period were really all that many. ... Schneekloth just took down Griffith accidentally after being knocked over himself and will head to the box at 6:55 to serve an interference penalty, the first one called this period. Bucks on the power play. ... Just 20 seconds into that one, the Bucks have scored their fifth power-play goal of the game to take back a two-goal lead at 5-3. Richards scored that one, his second of the game and the Bucks' first since the last minute of the first period. Richards banked it in off a pass from Bes, who gathered the puck nicely after it took a big bounce of the boards behind the net. ... And now, the Eagles get their first power play of the period with Schwabe going to the box at 8:51 for holding the stick. ... Slap shot just bounced off Gajewski into the net to cut the lead back to one goal. Haddon scored that goal, his second of the game, and Larranaga and Ryan McLeod get the assists. ... Some shoving behind the net after one of the Eagles skated into Gajewski when he was covering a puck. Shockingly enough, Alex Penner is involved and now mouthing off at the Bucks' bench. ... Griffith just got the puck on a long lead pass and was hauled down by one of the Eagles, resulting in a penalty shot. No pressure, right? ... Andrew Penner stopped him, silencing a crowd that seemed to want to get noisy about that chance. ... Nelson just made a beautiful play to get around Mohr, who will go the box at 14:48 to serve a holding penalty for his attempt to stop Nelson's move in on goal. Gajewski still had to make a save on the play, the Eagles' 38th shot of the night. ... Yeah, definitely no time to get quotes tonight. It's already 10 p.m. ... With 21 seconds left on Mohr's penalty, Agarunov is headed to the box for interference to give the Eagles a 5-on-3. 3:23 left on the game clock, by the way. ... A couple times now, the Eagles have gotten the puck to guys right in the slot and those players have failed to be able to find the puck at their skates. Who knows how different things could be if they hadn't lost sight of it. ... Two minutes left in regulation. ... Penalties killed, and the Eagles got an amazing chance as they expired but couldn't knock the puck home. ... One minute left in regulation, net has been empty for about 10 seconds now. ... Wow, you have got to be kidding me. I'm sorry, but if this team cannot keep a goal like that from happening, they do not deserve to win this game, especially not in regulation. Another flukey play saw the puck linger in the crease and flutter into the net thanks to some sharp passing by and Eagles player left completely uncovered and wide open in the circle. Schneekloth knocked that goal in, and Jackson and McGrane get the assists. Oh, right, that came with 18 seconds on the clock... End of the period, game tied 5-5, Eagles up 41-24 on shots. Don't think you can blame Gajewski for the ridiculousness that played out around him in this one, especially considering how many shots he's faced in the last two periods. This game has just been bizarre.
Overtime: Lot of back and forth so far, one scoring chance for each team in the first minute or so. ... Schneekloth just broke up a centering pass Smith was trying to get over to O'Leary. I'd have to guess that would have been a goal if he wasn't there. ... End of overtime, game tied 5-5, Eagles up 42-30 on shots, clearly pointing to the fact that the Bucks picked up the pace a bit in OT.
Shootout: Just going to say player and yes/no because I need to get to writing. Bucks are shooting first. ... Smith - yes. ... Nelson - no. ... Looby - yes. ... Ulanski - no. ... Bes - no. ... McGrane - no. Wait, yes. Gajewski stopped it, but it trickled in. ... Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel - no. Wow, Andrew Penner seriously gave that one his all. ... McLeod - no. ... Griffith - yes.
Game Over: Bucks win 6-5 in the shootout, improve to 15-10-7 (36 points). Eagles fall to 21-6-3 (45 points).
Levasseur Update: While I'm here, just thought I'd let you know Devan Dubnyk got called back up the NHL earlier this week, giving Jean-Philippe Levasseur the start in a 2-1 loss on Wednesday, then got sent back down and started tonight. Aaron Sorochan was sent back to the AHL when Dubnyk went to the NHL, and if he doesn't get sent back to the ECHL soon, it could mean Levasseur is coming back. No guarantees, though. The Falcons' transactions page is just full of CHL guys, and Rob Hisey is really thriving up there.
1 comment:
Aaron Sorochan was sent back.
Post a Comment