First Period: Curtis Billsten is wearing No. 41 tonight instead of his usual 12, assumably because they didn't have a pink No. 12 jersey. ... Even referee Jon MacIsaac is wearing pink tonight. The linesmen must feel left out. ... Cameron knocked Bes over right off the faceoff, which didn't seem to make the latter party all too happy but also didn't draw a penalty. ... A misplay of the puck left Nathan Perrott all alone skating in toward Desfosses from along the right wall, but he took a bad-angle shot that Desfosses was able to stop easily. ... The Bucks are being outshot 5-1 so far. ... Two consecutive icing calls on the Brahmas as the Bucks are starting to get some chances on offense. ... In addition to the top line for the Bucks, groupings tonight are Neil Trimm - Mark O'Leary - Todd Griffith and Billsten - Eric Giosa - Igor Agarunov. With the roster full again, Robin Richards doesn't play regular shifts. ... Richards is, however, going out for the Bucks' first power play shift of the game on Smith's right wing with Bes on the right. Interesting. Jarred Mohr and Adam Rivet are at the points... or at least will be if the Bucks can ever set up on this. Power play caused by a hooking call against Jordan Cameron at 8:58. ... This will now be a 5-on-3 for 1:28 as Jason Deitsch joins Cameron in the box after tripping Mohr as the Bucks skated back into the offensive zone. ... A solid clear to start the 5-on-3 does not bode well for the Bucks' chances. ... Second unit, which somehow includes Richards again, out for a faceoff with 59 seconds left on the 5-on-3. ... Cameron out of the box already, and the Bucks have only gotten one shot on the net during this advantage. ... Penalties killed with relative ease. ... The defensive pairing on Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel and Jay Holladay has done a great job of holding the puck in at the blue line so far tonight. ... Palmer just faced a couple big tests but stopped them. ... Lincourt just ripped a wrister right into Palmer's right post. ... Griffith has taken the Bucks' first penalty of the night, hooking at 14:22, while trying to hack at the puck, which was being carried by James Hiebert. ... Does MacIsaac have a thing for 5-on-3s? The Brahmas get one for 1:25 now with a holding-the-stick call against Looby at 14:57. ... Luckily for the Bucks, the Brahmas did about as much with that as the Bucks did with their own 5-on-3. Okay, maybe a little more, but not enough to score. First penalty has expired with the score still 0-0. ... Well, make it 1-0, but in the Bucks favor as Griffith absolutely owned the Brahmas defenders he was skating against to send the puck five-hole on Palmer shorthanded goal with 12 seconds left on Looby's penalty. Griffith was aided by the fact that he had Smith trailing, which kept some of the Brahmas' attention away from him. That was a really nice individual effort. Bucks lead 1-0 at 16:45 in the period. ... Trimm has tacked on another one just 77 seconds later, whipping a rebound from a shot by Giosa past Palmer for his first goal since returning from his second IR stint of the season. Bucks lead 2-0 with 1:58 to play in the first. ... Bucks going on a late power play with Elias Godoy going off for interference at 18:28 ... Seems that power plays just aren't working out for these teams, as some nifty work by Cameron has cut the Bucks' lead to 1-0 with exactly one minute left in the period. Not much Desfosses could do with a pretty decent goal scorer given the chance to walk in on him like that. Skworchinski is getting the lone assist, for now, on that one. ... Ummm, these last few minutes have been a little nuts. With Palmer being screened by just about everyone on the ice, Griffith ripped a shot from the circle for his second goal of the night with 37.5 on the clock. That was basically another one-person affair, but they are giving an assist on this one, as Giosa sent him the puck befor he did all the work with it. That was a power play goal, by the way. Now Griffith just needs to score even-strength, on a penalty shot and in a shootout. Haha. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 3-1, up 14-11 on shots. ... Pointstreak says Trimm's goal was also scored on the power play, but unless there was a penalty never called or announced, that is not the case. ... That got fixed pretty quickly, and an assist on that goal has been added for Richards. ... Apparently Pointstreak says Pier-Olivier Pelletier is in goal for the Bucks (just noticed when they printed out the first period game sheet), but I can assure you that is not the case unless Coach Ruskowski filled out his starting lineup wrong and Pelletier is borrowing Desfosses's pads... and his face.
Second Period: Billsten to the box for high-sticking only 10 seconds into the period. ... Penalty killed, with the majority of those two minutes spend in the Brahmas' zone. If you consider the fact that Griffith's second goal was an even-strength-style score that just so happened to get the net during a power play, both teams have been pretty sad on the man-advantage thus far. ... And now the Bucks are getting their first of the period, fourth of the game, with Luke Sellars headed to the box to serve two for hooking at 3:20. ... Between the exceptionally high attendance and the thunderstix, this is the loudest this arena has been in a very long time. ... Kinnunen and Scott Thauwold just got a great shorthanded chance, but Thauwold couldn't gather the pass I think Kinnunen was hoping would lead to a shot. ... Penalty killed. ... Griffith nearly got the hat trick when his stick deflected a shot/pass from Holladay toward the net, but no such luck. Yet. ... And he just got another chance, skating in on Palmer all alone, but Palmer poke checked the puck away before he could get a clean shot off. ... About five seconds later, Griffith was tripped up while skating back on defense and definitely wanted a call. He stayed down for a while but appears to be okay. ... Lincourt just got his best chance of the night on a feed from Bes, who had to do some nifty work to get it with a Brahmas defenseman in his face, but Lincourt missed the net. ... After a shot at the other end, some shoving began. Looks like we've reached that portion of the evening. .. What is with penalties right off faceoffs tonight? Giosa to the box at 9:56 for tripping. ... Ross Rouleau has evened things up at 4-on-4 for a while by taking an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at 11:32. Bucks will get 84 seconds on the power play once Giosa gets out. ... Penalty killed. ... Deitsch just got a short breakaway chance and for some reason braked, faked a slap shot then went in and shot the puck directly into Desfosses's pads. Not a very good way to use that chance on his part. ... Hiebert has started shoving Bucks around after the whistles, resulting in some obligatory face time on the Jumbotron. ... Perrott headed to the box now for high-sticking at 15:26. ... I believe we just witnessed the Bucks' first shot from the point on a power play tonight. Okay, at least the first in recent memory. Palmer made a kick save on it, and no one seemed to feel compelled to keep the puck in after that. ... Elliott took one of his own, which also went in on net, toward the end of the power play, which will be extended with Cameron going to the box for cross-checking at 17:25 with one second left on the initial penalty. ... A puck that hit inside the post was just waved off, but I really thought it caught net when it went in, and so did the Bucks on the ice. Would have been a goal for them. Guess we'll never know now, as there was no stoppage in play or replay of any kind. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 3-1, up 27-22 on shots.
Third Period: Perrott to the box for slashing at 2:07. ... And now Griffith is off for two minors, interference and unsportsmanlike conduct, at 2:39. ... Not a whole heck of a lot going on as the eighth minute comes off the clock. Three shots for each team so far this period. ... Mohr has been called for interference at the 9-minute mark to give the Brahmas their eighth power play of the game. Bucks have had eight, too. ... Seriously, has there been one power play tonight during which the shorthanded team didn't have the best scoring chance? ... A high-sticking double-minor on Griffith has put the Bucks on another four-minute penalty kill, though this one will affect them the full four minutes, at 12:16. It's almost like no one wants to stay fully on Ruskowski's good side. ... As I say that, Elliott has been called for slashing at 13:53, which will give the Brahmas a full two-minute 5-on-3. Dan Wildfong has called a time out to talk to his team while Ruskowski paces anxiously behind his. Rivet is having some words with MacIsaac as the players file back into position, but I don't see that doing any good. ... Hiebert just did the Bucks a favor, taking a holding call at 13:57, before his team could get anything going on that 5-on-3. It'll be a 4-on-3 now, lots of open ice. ... The penalty fest continues with Deitsch going off for elbowing at 14:59. Two men in each box right now, making it 3-on-3 for 54 seconds. ... Back to even-strength with 3:01 left on the clock. ... Shots have evened up for the first time since the first period at 33. ... Palmer has been pulled with nearly two minutes left in regulation. ... Deitsch just whiffed on a nice feed right on the doorstep, then Desfosses gloved a second-chance shot from another player to stop the clock with 39.3 seconds left. Brahmas have built a 36-33 shot. ... Ruskowski has called a time out, which gives Wildfong the opportunity to draw out a play. Interesting decision. ... A miss of the net by A.J. Gale gave the Bucks a little help, but they have put this one away.
Game Over: Bucks win 3-1, improve to 19-13-7 (45 points) and move into a tie for third place with the Brahmas, who fall to 20-16-5 (45 points). How big were the final three minutes of the first period? ... Okay, final 3:15. Ruskowski wasn't all-out thrilled with their play, but he was happy to win. Desfosses and the penalty killers got some kudos, but the power play and the guys who took penalties in the third definitely did not. You can check out my story in tomorrow's Times for more on tonight, including quotes, or check back here tomorrow afternoon for me to post what Ruskowski had to say. ... By the way, as far as I know, this was the Bucks' first win on the night of a jersey auction this season.
4 comments:
Hey Joy, is it me or is Defossess' stick too small? That thing looks like a regular stick... What say you?
Good observation, but despite the thin blade, that is actually a goalie stick. The shaft of the stick is thicker than a skater's stick, as is the blade, though less noticeably so.
What did you think about how the team played last night? he said he wasnt to happy with some players? like.
I think the inconsistency is still there, but Desfosses is helping a lot with that problem they've had of giving up leads.
The power play was absolutely terrible last night, and that was one of the things Ruskowski wasn't happy about.
He doesn't ever call guys out by name when speaking with me, but I can guarantee that Griffith made his two goals a lot less appreciable by taking those two double-minors in the third period.
You can read the quotes I posted above for more of his thoughts on the game.
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