First Period: Forward Jereme Tendler is a scratch for the IceRays tonight. ... Only one shot by each team in the first four minutes. ... IceRays up to three now, and Desfosses has made a couple impressive saves already. ... Robin Richards has taken the game's first penalty, cross-checking at 6:21, to put the IceRays on the power play. ... Curtis Billsten just went for a wraparound that almost ended up getting tipped in by Robin Richards in front of the net, but no dice. ... Holladay is in the box for hooking at 11:41 to give the IceRays another power-play chance. ... And another one has been killed. ... Smith just missed the net on a great chance he created by batting the put out of the air, but he managed to draw a penalty on the play, sending Steven Later to the box for slashing at 14:44. Bucks get their first power play. ... Took the Bucks nearly a minute of that to even get a shot off, and Nastiuk stopped the two that came eventually. ... Styffe and Eric Giosa just put a decent chance together, but that got stopped, too. Bucks have their first shot lead with a couple minutes left in the period, by the way. Up to 9-7 now. ... Elliott to the box for tripping at 18:28. ... Smith appears to have blocked a shot and limped off the ice. He's hunched over a bit on the bench and visibly in pain. ... End of the period, game tied 0-0, Bucks up 9-7 on shots. IceRays still have 28 seconds left on that power play when the next period begins.
Second Period: Penalty killed. ... Desfosses is definitely winning over the fans, and I doubt Coach Ruskowski has many problems with his play so far. He just made a great stop on Garbutt on a breakaway then another just seconds later and another immediately following the next faceoff. ... Speaking of saves, Jean-Philippe Levasseur made 38 in his second victory with the Springfield Falcons, a 5-2 win over the Binghamton Senators. ... Holladay is going to the box for high-sticking at 7:19 to put the IceRays on a power play. ... Yikes. Styffe just flew into the post on a shorthanded breakaway attempt. He is on the ground writhing around and motioned for trainer Bobby Moore to run to his side right away. Adam Rivet and Igor Agarunov are helping him off the ice. That does not look good. ... Bucks are now down to 14 skaters and only 13 while Holladay is in the box. ... The IceRays just put one in the net, but it's not going to do any harm to the Bucks because it came on an offsides play. Or at least one that was called that way. ... Mark O'Leary just deflected a shot right over Nastiuk's net. A few inches lower, and that would have been a goal. ... Another close chance for the Bucks missed wide. ... The Bucks have been generating some offense even-strength for the past half-minute or so, and now they get a power play with Later back in the box, this time for tripping at 11:46. ... In an attempt to bat a puck out of the air and get a shot on net, Smith took a high-sticking penalty at 12:44 to make it 4-on-4 for 53 seconds then yet another IceRays power play. ... Tessier, who I believe was the man who got the puck in the net on that no-goal, just hit the post. ... Nice sprawling save by Desfosses followed by some hustle by Bes to clear the puck away from the crease kept the IceRays off the board a little while longer. ... And follow that up with a nice blocker save. ... Robin Richards just lost his stick when one of the IceRays fell on top of him in front of the IceRays' bench, then grabbed a stick out of one of the IceRays' hands and ended up taking a shot with it just seconds later. Captains are discussing the situation with the officials, and the IceRays are definitely looking for a penalty. That was odd. Richards was acting as though he had every right to do that. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he didn't see his own stick on the ground and thus thought it had been picked up by an IceRays player and needed to be taken back, but I really doubt that was the case. ... No penalty, perhaps as a makeup for nothing being called when Styffe went down, which seemed to be something the crowd wanted. Todd Griffith and Smith just had a great 2-on-1 chance, and Griffith couldn't hit Smith's blade with the pass. Have to assume Smith would have scored there if he had only gotten the puck. ... Agarunov was set up behind the net looking for a man out front to pass to, but for some reason his linemates decided they'd rather camp out behind the goal line with him. ... One block shot and one kick save in the other end later, the zeros are still on the board. ... Smth was just tripped up by Kyle Peto on a semi-breakaway, and nothing was called, but the Bucks get a power play anyway with 19.6 seconds left in the period as Garbutt heads to the box for slashing. ... Robin Richards going to the box now for elbowing Tessier, who lost his helmet on the play. That came just eight seconds into Garbutt's penalty, so this will be pretty much all 4-on-4. ... End of the period, game tied 0-0, IceRays up 23-21 on shots. ... Doesn't look like the Texas Brahmas want to help the Bucks gain on them in the standings; they lead the Arizona Sundogs 6-2 less than five minutes into the third period of their game.
Third Period: Just seven seconds into the final stanza, the IceRays have already gotten in close to Desfosses and taken a shot on goal. That's their 24th of the night. ... Smyth is joining Garbutt in the box at 1:08 for hooking, making this a 4-on-3 for the Bucks for a very short while, 4-on-4 for a bit, then a Bucks' power play 5-on-4. ... Not long after leaving the box, Garbutt got a breakaway and went on to miss the net, but Looby hooked him up on the play, so Garbutt is getting a penalty shot. ... Very nice save by Desfosses, who anticipated Garbutt very well but nearly tripped himself celebrating the save, his 25th of the night. ... The Bucks cannot seem to keep the puck in their zone on power plays tonight. ... The Bucks almost deflected one into their own net, but Desfosses was on top of it. He and Nastiuk each have 26 saves now. ... Robin Richards just threw Chad Woollard down to the ice, may have caught his face with his stick i the process, and is now in the box to serve two for hooking at 5:53. Richards has given the IceRays three power plays tonight, or at least evened things up when his team could have had a power play chance of its own. ... Lots of visible frustration by the Bucks tonight, as players slam their sticks into the boards and catch up to plays late because they were busy shaking their heads over missed chances at the other end. ... Penalty killed. ... Jarred Mohr just lost the puck in the Bucks' defensive zone, resulting in a quick shot on Desfosses, but he was prepared. ... The Sundogs pulled a bit closer, but the Brahmas won 6-4 to improve to 19-13-5 (43 points) and ruin the Bucks' chances of moving into a tie for third place in the conference, regardless of what happens at the LEC. ... Another close chance missed, then a shot blocked. ... Oh, man. Billsten just got high-sticked in the face, but nothing was called, then Justin Quenneville skated into the other end and set up Chad Costello, who scored on their 2-on-1 chance when he sent the puck over Desfosses' shoulder. That was the IceRays' 30th shot of the game and came at 11:11 in the period. IceRays lead 1-0. ... Agarunov just tried to undress Tessier to move in on goal but did not succeed. ... Bucks haven't taken a shot since the IceRays scored. Four minutes left in regulation. ... The Quenneville line just put together another good breakout but was caught offsides entering the Bucks' zone. ... Only two minutes left now. What happened to the offense that scored six goals last night? ... Icing on the IceRays with 1:57 on the clock sets the Bucks up in Nastiuk's right circle. Desfosses staying in his net. ... Smith just pushed a puck wide that he could have gotten a good chance on if he set up to shoot it properly. ... Bit of a struggle along the boards gets a whistle, creating another offensive-zone faceoff for the Bucks. Time out Bucks with 1:42 left in regulation. Desfosses is now on the bench. ... Nastiuk gloved a shot by Bes to keep the next faceoff in IceRays' territory. ... I'd say that was the epitome of a mad scramble around the net as O'Leary got a shot on Nastiuk and the puck stayed loose for quite a while before several players knocked the net off its moorings to stop play. That did not stop the shoving, though, and we might get some penalties here with 1:19 on the clock. ... Only R.G. Flath has gone to the box, so with Desfosses still out, the Bucks will have a 6-on-4 with the faceoff to Nastiuk's right. ... One minute left. ... If ever there was a time for a crowd to yell "shoot," this might be it. ... O'Leary passed it right to the IceRays on probably the 100th pass of that possession, and the final rush after that clear was unsuccessful. Seriously, there is no reason that the Bucks should have taken so few shots while 6-on-4 to end that.
Game Over: Bucks lose 1-0, fall to 16-12-7 (39 points) and four points behind the Brahmas in the standings. They are now winless in their last five against the IceRays. ... The IceRays have now clinched the season series against the Bucks, which has never happened before, going 7-2-1 in the first 10 meetings.
Update: Styffe appears to have broken a bone, and not one you can get away with playing on broken, and will likely miss a couple of months, maybe even the rest of the season. He left for X-rays after the game, and I'll ask how that turned out during the team's media availability on Monday.
Update: Styffe appears to have broken a bone, and not one you can get away with playing on broken, and will likely miss a couple of months, maybe even the rest of the season. He left for X-rays after the game, and I'll ask how that turned out during the team's media availability on Monday.
9 comments:
man styffe is a big lose to this team. #27 and 28 cant be out there on that power play. I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THEY DONT SHOOT THE PUCK? WHY? ARE THEY SCARED OR WHAT? WE HAVE SEEN THAT THEY SCORE BUT WHEN THEY SHOT. WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO GET IT??/ PLEASE CAN U ANSWER ME JOY. PLEASE?
I really don't know what to tell you. One thing I loved about Mohr in training camp was his slap shot, but I have barely ever seen it during the season. They do need to shoot more, but I don't know why they don't.
Because there's at least 4 players and a goalie in front of a 4 foot by 6 foot net on a 5 player on 4 player advantage. (I decided to make it very clear for you to help you understand) a powerplay isn't about taking the puck and shooting at it and hoping to get a shot on goal, if you just shoot it at a wall of 5 or more players who are all over 6'0 tall you probably won't get it to the net. It'll either be intercepted and cleared (and you will lose time) or worse have a penalty killers go on offense. A powerplay isn't about scoring either, necessarily, it's about puck possesion when you have the puck in the other teams zone, they can not make a line change. They will get tired and you'll have a better chance of scoring whenever you DO get an opportunity to get a CLEAN shot off. A lot of the times a goal can be scored right after the powerplay ends. Those goals count too you know.
Jeff, I am very well aware of the setup on a power play, and I have very often seen a slap shot from the point score a goal in that scenario. Plus, Coach Ruskowski has often said the downfall of this team's power play is that they don't have a guy who will pull the trigger from back there and help get the puck on net.
Sorry my comment was directed at anonymous who was asking why the Bucks never take shots on the PP. It annoys the crap out of me when I hear people screaming shoot at the top of their lungs, sometimes when a Buck doesn't even have possession.
Jeff u seem to not know anything about hockey
Jeff has a point it can be a lil fustrating to see the puck going back to back but u have to take ur time n make ur way in, coach has said it in the past few seasons n im glad to see that they managed to learn that this season. Every team has thier ups n down just like a family i really thought this game was awsome. Both goalies were outstanding! We must have really bad luck with injuries this season but u know the saying "there is always a reason for why these things happen"
My two cents: While I understand that there is more to a power play than just scoring, i.e., puck possession, the ultimate goal (no pun intended) of a team is to take advantage of the power play and score! How tired is the other team going to get if the two point-men pass the puck to each other as if they were at practice? That's the best way that I can describe what I see (as a fan) when this team is on the power play. I'm sure the penalty killers (rayz) were satisfied maintaining their defensive box and watching the bucks pass, and pass, and pass the puck, back and forth, along the blue line. If there is going to be a lot of puck movement, then it needs to be fast! That's not happening. In fact, the passing is hideous! (see Rivet's pass to rayz penalty killer) How big of a chance to score or to wear down the opposing team, does that give the team? I'd rather see shots on goal (even if blocked) than all this slow, practice-like passing, and passing to the other team!
The point of the passing is to try and catch someone out of position. Kind of like in basketball when you pass around the perimeter hoping to catch one of your shooters wide open because someone moved in to double team the center. When you pass it deep then back to the point, hopefully your pointmen are ready and open to slap it on net. But they aren't going to do that when, like Jeff said, there's a wall in front of them.
The real problem is that the Bucks are not moving the puck fast enough which gives the defense time to adjust. Watch the NHL once in awhile. See how fast that puck moves around the PP cycle? The Bucks are nowhere near that level. So what you end up with is a lot of fumbling around with the puck. If you pay attention, most CHL level teams PP works this way. Odessa is a notable exception.
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