dondo
10-27-2007, 01:51 AM
Not a bad game all in all. Kirk was bearable, not great not bad -- gave Moose Jaw a bunch of penalties two of which were the throwing the puck over the glass variety (one of the dumbest penalties around). Giants PK struggled, and their PP shined - go figure.
Giants Nip Da Jaw 4-3 OT - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/October_26_GiantsbkNipbkDaJaw_156.html)
Giants Nip DaJaw
Vancouver 4 Moose Jaw 3 OT
Don Robinson
A lively game in front of almost 9000 fans tonight as the Giants bumped their losing streak, before it became a streak. Joey Perricone, between the pipes for the Warriors, earned his team a point and almost held out for the win as he stood on his head turning away 53 of 57 shots. The Giants who had not been getting the puck on the net lately, began going to the net more and looking for loose pucks and in the end it worked. The Warriors played a pretty good game keeping the G-Men mostly to the outside and preventing the home team from getting good wood on shots pinballing around the crease. The Giants had a few solid individual performances elevating their PP, which had been struggling, but still need to consistently get more traffic in front of the opposing goalie. The Giants opened the scoring on the PP with Evander Kane trying a wrap-around and James Wright tapping the puck home off of Kane’s second effort. The Warriors got that one back before the end of the period as Neal Prokop slipped one past Tyson Sexsmith. The Warriors added to that in the second as Tomas Karpov on the PP pounded the puck, got back his own rebound and made no mistake beating Sexsmith stick-side. The Giants knotted it up on their own PP, with 13 seconds left in the middle stanza as Machacek slipped the rebound past Perricone off of a Michal Repik shot.
The Warriors went back up by one, again on the man-advantage, when Jason Bast got it past Sexsmith. The Giants came back though a few minutes later when Craig Schira (just back from his injury), with yet another PP tally. He tipped a Jonny Blum shot beating Perricone high. In OT the teams traded chances before a gaffe at the blue-line by a Warrior player gave Machacek a free pass to the net. Machacek went in and wristed a shot which hit just inside the crossbar rippling the mesh before bouncing out, causing a bit of controversy. From my perspective the puck hit the inside corner of the net and bounced out and being on the goal-line I have a pretty good view. There were a couple of fights tonight neither of which were spectacular but the Cloud / Riege fight had both guys trading decent blows.
The Giants opened the scoring in the first period on the PP. Brent Regner got the puck down to Kane in the corner. Kane cut around the net putting the puck off of Perricone’s pads on the wrap-around. Kane’s second effort squirted the puck to the open side where Wright tapped it home. Prokop got that one back a couple of minutes later backhanding a rebound past Sexsmith. Chris Cloud and Brad Riege dropped the gloves at about the 15 minute mark of the first doffing the helmets and squaring off at centre-ice. Both combatants got in some good licks with Cloud eventually getting the take-down. The Giants out shot the Warriors 15-9 in the first and seemed to have a bit better forecheck going, except the puck seemed to be bouncing all night for the home squad.
The second opened to quite a bit of moisture still on the ice, which caused the puck to become stuck and make stick-handling a challenge. The ice did not actually fully dry out for the majority of the period and by the end of the second there were still glossy patches on the ice surface. Lucky the wet ice did not cause any game turning turnovers. The Warriors regained their lead mid-period on the PP. Karpov came off the side boards and snuck to the face-off dot where he wired a puck low and hard on Sexsmith. The puck rebounded off of the goalie’s pads right back to Karpov. Karpov carried his momentum through the shot and pounded the puck past Sexsmith high to the stick-side. New Giant Justin Palazzo and Terrance Delaronde dropped the mitts behind the Warrior net late in the second for a short bout which gave Palazzo the edge and the take down, but neither player really got any very good shots in before it ended. It took ‘til the very end of the second for the Giants to tie up the game again and it came on their second PP goal of the game. Michal Repik fired the puck on net and Machacek cutting through the crease gathered the biscuit and slipped it back-hand for the tying goal with 13 seconds left in the second period. The shots for the middle stanza were 14-9 in favour of the home squad.
The pesky Moose Jaw squad went up again early in the third capitalising for the second time on their third PP of the game. The Giants managed to get that back a few minutes later on a PP of their own. James Wright dug the puck out of the corner and fed Blum at the point. Blum slipped sideways and fired a rocket on net which Schira managed to re-direct in the slot and put it over Perricone who had gone down into his butterfly. The goal broke the tension in the building and the fans exploded with applause. The Giants riddled Perricone with 25 shots in the period while holding their opponents to just 5, but at the end of sixty minutes it was still a draw and Perricone earned his team a point weathering the onslaught with calm confidence. The OT opened with the Warriors getting a shot on Sexsmith just 9 seconds into the extra frame, but Sexsmith turned it aside easily. The teams went up and down the ice, but it took a stumble on the Warriors part to open the door with 36 seconds left in OT. I wish I could remember the poor guy who wears the goat horns but I can’t. I am sure those of you out there will tell me soon enough though. The D-man tried to make the turn, gets caught and goes down gifting the puck. Machacek wheeled in the neutral zone and picked up the loose biscuit going straight at the Warriors net and then wristing it high past Perricone for the winning tally. The puck went up and under the crossbar rippling the mesh just inside the post and bounced back out. Brady Calla wearing an ‘A’ for the Warriors was especially incensed and remained a long time on the ice jawing at the officials that the puck did not go in the net. In the end the red light went on, the refs conferred and the goal stood.
A bit better performance for the G-Men, but there are still some holes in their game which they need to fill. Their puck-handling and passing was poor at times and they were not as adept at clearing their zone as they were earlier in this young season. Maybe it has to do with the skill level of the team as a whole as the players were out there skating hard and competing, but seemed to fumble or hesitate with the puck possibly over-thinking what they were doing. On the PP the puck needs to leave the point quickly and a wrist shot is just fine to get it to the front of the net. They need to put more traffic in front of the net though and move the puck quicker. They lost more than few battles along the boards and part of that was the Warriors skill, but the other part was not protecting the puck well, which surprised me as the Giants should be cycle kings by now.
Piluso played with Cloud and Reich and Czibere centered Hunt and Cunningham and those two lines seemed to be the best fits. Wright centring Machacek and Bouma also had some success. The line of Bliznak Repik and Kane could probably have done a bit better in terms of moving the puck around. The effort was better but the passing was frequently weak and over-abundant. It felt like none of the line-mates were willing to go to the net to score, but rather waiting for the other guys to get into position so they could set them up. I’d like to see a bit more selfishness with the puck for our skill guys and instead of cutting to the boards as they enter the zone, I would like to see them take it down the gut and challenge the defensemen.
The Giants went 3 for 8 on the PP, while allowing their opponent 2 for 3 (very unlike the Giants we all know – our gap control on the PK was poor tonight.). The Giants ended up out-shooting the visitors 57 – 25 as they opened up the shooting gallery for 25 shots in then third. The open a road trip that has them all over the map. Tomorrow they travel to Kamloops to take on the Blazers and then the Cougars on Monday, before coming back down to three in three nights in Kennewick, Spokane and then Chilliwack. Not the greatest of schedules if you ask me. Puck drops tomorrow in Kamloops at 7:00pm PDT.
Three Stars
1. Joey Perricone
2. Spencer Machacek
3. Brent Regner (although at the arena it was a Warrior player for some reason)
Giants Nip Da Jaw 4-3 OT - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/October_26_GiantsbkNipbkDaJaw_156.html)
Giants Nip DaJaw
Vancouver 4 Moose Jaw 3 OT
Don Robinson
A lively game in front of almost 9000 fans tonight as the Giants bumped their losing streak, before it became a streak. Joey Perricone, between the pipes for the Warriors, earned his team a point and almost held out for the win as he stood on his head turning away 53 of 57 shots. The Giants who had not been getting the puck on the net lately, began going to the net more and looking for loose pucks and in the end it worked. The Warriors played a pretty good game keeping the G-Men mostly to the outside and preventing the home team from getting good wood on shots pinballing around the crease. The Giants had a few solid individual performances elevating their PP, which had been struggling, but still need to consistently get more traffic in front of the opposing goalie. The Giants opened the scoring on the PP with Evander Kane trying a wrap-around and James Wright tapping the puck home off of Kane’s second effort. The Warriors got that one back before the end of the period as Neal Prokop slipped one past Tyson Sexsmith. The Warriors added to that in the second as Tomas Karpov on the PP pounded the puck, got back his own rebound and made no mistake beating Sexsmith stick-side. The Giants knotted it up on their own PP, with 13 seconds left in the middle stanza as Machacek slipped the rebound past Perricone off of a Michal Repik shot.
The Warriors went back up by one, again on the man-advantage, when Jason Bast got it past Sexsmith. The Giants came back though a few minutes later when Craig Schira (just back from his injury), with yet another PP tally. He tipped a Jonny Blum shot beating Perricone high. In OT the teams traded chances before a gaffe at the blue-line by a Warrior player gave Machacek a free pass to the net. Machacek went in and wristed a shot which hit just inside the crossbar rippling the mesh before bouncing out, causing a bit of controversy. From my perspective the puck hit the inside corner of the net and bounced out and being on the goal-line I have a pretty good view. There were a couple of fights tonight neither of which were spectacular but the Cloud / Riege fight had both guys trading decent blows.
The Giants opened the scoring in the first period on the PP. Brent Regner got the puck down to Kane in the corner. Kane cut around the net putting the puck off of Perricone’s pads on the wrap-around. Kane’s second effort squirted the puck to the open side where Wright tapped it home. Prokop got that one back a couple of minutes later backhanding a rebound past Sexsmith. Chris Cloud and Brad Riege dropped the gloves at about the 15 minute mark of the first doffing the helmets and squaring off at centre-ice. Both combatants got in some good licks with Cloud eventually getting the take-down. The Giants out shot the Warriors 15-9 in the first and seemed to have a bit better forecheck going, except the puck seemed to be bouncing all night for the home squad.
The second opened to quite a bit of moisture still on the ice, which caused the puck to become stuck and make stick-handling a challenge. The ice did not actually fully dry out for the majority of the period and by the end of the second there were still glossy patches on the ice surface. Lucky the wet ice did not cause any game turning turnovers. The Warriors regained their lead mid-period on the PP. Karpov came off the side boards and snuck to the face-off dot where he wired a puck low and hard on Sexsmith. The puck rebounded off of the goalie’s pads right back to Karpov. Karpov carried his momentum through the shot and pounded the puck past Sexsmith high to the stick-side. New Giant Justin Palazzo and Terrance Delaronde dropped the mitts behind the Warrior net late in the second for a short bout which gave Palazzo the edge and the take down, but neither player really got any very good shots in before it ended. It took ‘til the very end of the second for the Giants to tie up the game again and it came on their second PP goal of the game. Michal Repik fired the puck on net and Machacek cutting through the crease gathered the biscuit and slipped it back-hand for the tying goal with 13 seconds left in the second period. The shots for the middle stanza were 14-9 in favour of the home squad.
The pesky Moose Jaw squad went up again early in the third capitalising for the second time on their third PP of the game. The Giants managed to get that back a few minutes later on a PP of their own. James Wright dug the puck out of the corner and fed Blum at the point. Blum slipped sideways and fired a rocket on net which Schira managed to re-direct in the slot and put it over Perricone who had gone down into his butterfly. The goal broke the tension in the building and the fans exploded with applause. The Giants riddled Perricone with 25 shots in the period while holding their opponents to just 5, but at the end of sixty minutes it was still a draw and Perricone earned his team a point weathering the onslaught with calm confidence. The OT opened with the Warriors getting a shot on Sexsmith just 9 seconds into the extra frame, but Sexsmith turned it aside easily. The teams went up and down the ice, but it took a stumble on the Warriors part to open the door with 36 seconds left in OT. I wish I could remember the poor guy who wears the goat horns but I can’t. I am sure those of you out there will tell me soon enough though. The D-man tried to make the turn, gets caught and goes down gifting the puck. Machacek wheeled in the neutral zone and picked up the loose biscuit going straight at the Warriors net and then wristing it high past Perricone for the winning tally. The puck went up and under the crossbar rippling the mesh just inside the post and bounced back out. Brady Calla wearing an ‘A’ for the Warriors was especially incensed and remained a long time on the ice jawing at the officials that the puck did not go in the net. In the end the red light went on, the refs conferred and the goal stood.
A bit better performance for the G-Men, but there are still some holes in their game which they need to fill. Their puck-handling and passing was poor at times and they were not as adept at clearing their zone as they were earlier in this young season. Maybe it has to do with the skill level of the team as a whole as the players were out there skating hard and competing, but seemed to fumble or hesitate with the puck possibly over-thinking what they were doing. On the PP the puck needs to leave the point quickly and a wrist shot is just fine to get it to the front of the net. They need to put more traffic in front of the net though and move the puck quicker. They lost more than few battles along the boards and part of that was the Warriors skill, but the other part was not protecting the puck well, which surprised me as the Giants should be cycle kings by now.
Piluso played with Cloud and Reich and Czibere centered Hunt and Cunningham and those two lines seemed to be the best fits. Wright centring Machacek and Bouma also had some success. The line of Bliznak Repik and Kane could probably have done a bit better in terms of moving the puck around. The effort was better but the passing was frequently weak and over-abundant. It felt like none of the line-mates were willing to go to the net to score, but rather waiting for the other guys to get into position so they could set them up. I’d like to see a bit more selfishness with the puck for our skill guys and instead of cutting to the boards as they enter the zone, I would like to see them take it down the gut and challenge the defensemen.
The Giants went 3 for 8 on the PP, while allowing their opponent 2 for 3 (very unlike the Giants we all know – our gap control on the PK was poor tonight.). The Giants ended up out-shooting the visitors 57 – 25 as they opened up the shooting gallery for 25 shots in then third. The open a road trip that has them all over the map. Tomorrow they travel to Kamloops to take on the Blazers and then the Cougars on Monday, before coming back down to three in three nights in Kennewick, Spokane and then Chilliwack. Not the greatest of schedules if you ask me. Puck drops tomorrow in Kamloops at 7:00pm PDT.
Three Stars
1. Joey Perricone
2. Spencer Machacek
3. Brent Regner (although at the arena it was a Warrior player for some reason)