Game No. 49 - Bucks vs. Killer Bees

Pre-Game: Sorry about the recent lack of posts; I somehow managed to get sick again, this game is the first thing I've dragged myself out of bed for since Tuesday night. With that in mind, I'm not sure I"ll have as much to say tonight as usual. And unless I get my voice back completely by the end of the game, I won't be going downstairs for interviews. Kind of difficult to conduct those when you can only speak a couple words at a time. ... As usual, you can follow tonight's game here or on Poinstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1.

Starters: Bucks - Jeff Bes (F), Kevin Desfosses (G), Paul Elliott (D), Ryan Ford (F), Mike Looby (D), Darryl Smith (F); Killer Bees - Nathan Ansell (D), Brett Clouthier (F), Andy Franck (G), Joel Irving (G), Jesse Perrin (D), Daymen Rycroft (F).

First Period: Maxime Lincourt is the Bucks' scratch tonight. Wouldn't say he's an entirely healthy one, though. ... Killer Bees take a 1-0 lead at 5:28 on a goal by Grant Goeckner-Zoeller, set up by Aaron Lee, who kept the puck in on a clearing attempt by the Bucks and sent a sharp pass over to his linemate, who scored easily. That was the Killer Bees' second shot of the game. Sean Muncy gets the second assist. ... Stacey Bauman to the box for hooking at 9:06 to give the Bucks the game's first power play. ... Well, they hit the outside of the net, but not the inside just yet. ... Killer Bees get a power play now with an interference call against Jarred Mohr at 13:13. ... Penalty killed. ... Clouthier just shoved Todd Griffith into and almost over the boards into the Killer Bees bench. ... Oh right, that followed a touch up for a delayed interference call against Perrin to give the Bucks another power play at 17:12. ... Tie game. Robin Richards jammed in a loose puck after taking one shot at it previously. Mohr gets the primary assist for his shot from the point that got the puck into the crease, and Bes gets the secondary for his pass to Mohr. Still 2:13 left on the clock for someone to break the 1-1 tie before intermission. ... Billsten in the box for holding the stick at 18:13 to give the Killer Bees a chance to take the lead back on the power play. ... Well, the tie has been broken, but not by the Killer Bees. Smith wristed a shot that rolled over Franck's shoulder into the net after taking a pass from Bes on a 2-on-1 shorthanded break. Bucks lead 2-1 at 19:10.03. Killer Bees have 49.7 seconds left on the power play in this period and a will get a few more seconds on it to start the second if they don't score before intermission. ... Igor Agarunov and Eric Giosa got another 2-on-1 going for the Bucks, and though they did not score, they did keep the Killer Bees from getting any chances before intermission. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 2-1, up 14-7 on shots.

Second Period: Tom Sawatske has taken a hooking penalty at 1:40 to put the Bucks on the power play. ... Not for long, as Bes is headed to the box for a hook of his own at 1:53. Time for some 4-on-4. ... Penalties killed. ... Considering the number of shots the Bucks were getting on Franck, it's no surprise to see them score again here. Smith stayed out after his linemates on a long shift, did some work behind the net and sent a nifty centering pass to Neil Trimm, who elevated a shot right over Franck's shoulder. Adam Rivet gets the second assist. Bucks lead 3-1 at 7:25 in the period. ... Right off the ensuing faceoff, Perrin committed a high-sticking penalty, which was called at 7:47 following a delay. Bucks on the power play. ... Bucks getting another power play now at 12:20 with Jay Hardwick heading to the box for hooking. ... Twenty seconds into that, the Bucks have scored their second power-play goal of the game, this one off the stick of Griffith, who was planted right outside Franck's crease. Assists to Mohr and Evan Schwabe. Bucks lead 4-1 at 12:40. ... Agarunov to the box for hooking at 13:32. ... Rivet just tried to start a breakout from behind his own net and had his pass taken away by the Killer Bees. He's lucky nothing bad came of that. ... Some very nifty stick work by Schwabe has given the Bucks a 5-1 lead, as he skated in shorthanded and faked Franck out to rip a bad-angled wrist shot past him. Billsten, who sent the pass to Schwabe from near the blue line and held up there, gets the assist on that goal. Bucks lead 5-1 at 14:15 in the period. ... Clouthier to the box for hooking at 15:51. ... Bucks let Lee break out shorthanded then tie him up to award him a penalty shot. ... And wow, did he take advantage of that. Beautiful wrist shot just ripped by Desfosses. The thing is, Desfosses made the save on the initial shot Lee had taken, which he got off despite being hooked up, which makes it seem like the Bucks would have been better off just leaving him alone on his original chance. Bucks lead 5-2 at 16:08 ... Right after that was announced, the Bucks got their four-goal advantage back on Griffith's second of the night, a power-play goal assisted by Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel and Looby. Bucks lead 6-2 at 16:58. ... Rough goal to give up for Desfosses, as he made a great save on a shot by Sawatske but could not cover the puck, and Rycroft skated in and jammed it off his toe into the net. Clouthier gets the secondary assist. Bucks lead 6-3 at 19:24. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 6-3, up 27-21 on shots.

Third Period: Muncy is headed to the box for boarding at 5:45 to give the Bucks the first power play of the period. ... Rycroft has cut the Bucks' lead to 2 with his second of the game, a shorthanded wrister that beat Desfosses top shelf. Bucks lead 6-4 at 7:40. ... Another power play coming for the Bucks with Hardwick headed to the box for holding at 10:34. They should probably try to keep the Killer Bees off the board on this one. ... Griffith just hacked Perrin's stick out of his hand on what would have easily been a slash if the stick broke, and Perrin looked to the ref for a call but got nothing. ... Dieude-Fauvel to the box for hooking at 15:33 to put the Killer Bees on a late power play. ... Desfosses got caught of position on a save, and Irving rocketed in the rebound to cut the Bucks' lead to 6-5 with 3:48 to play in regulation. ... Ruskowski has called his time out. ... The Killer Bees have taken a 38-33 shot lead, by the way. ... Franck just made a big save on Smith to keep this a one-goal game. ... Franck tried to go to the bench late in the period but couldn't make it off the ice.

Game Over: Bucks win 6-5. Killer Bees hold a 38-33 final shot advantage. ... Bucks improve to 24-16-9 (57 points), moving back into a tie with the Texas Brahmas for first place, but the Brahmas have a game in hand. ... Not so encouraging the way the Bucks let two four-goal leads turn into a one-goal win. We'll see how they fare the rest of the weekend.