dondo
04-28-2009, 12:58 AM
dammit -- should have won that one and forced a Game 7 -- congrats to the Rockets for battling so hard to come back in that one and throughout the series. I don't think you guys have a hope in hell versus the Hitmen, but I could be wrong.
Rd 3 Game 6
Rockets Burn Giants
Vancouver 4 Kelowna 5 OT
Don Robinson
The Rockets eliminated the Giants off of a contested goal which looked to be a highstick in the high slot, but was called a goal in the end. The problem is that the Giants should never have let the game go to OT at all as they had control of the game up 4-2, ‘til 15:55 of the final frame and then the wheels came off. The Giants were weathering a four on four and tagged for a softish penalty in front of their net putting the Rockets up 4 on 3. Colin Long used the advantage to find Jamie Benn alone in the slot with a pass from behind the net. Benn buried the puck. The Giants failed to get the puck from their zone on the ensuing shift and gave up a goal 33 seconds later allowing the Rockets to tie a game they never should even have been in, had the Giants continued to play their normal solid hockey. Backlund scored three goals in the game including the disputed marker to win in OT. His two earlier tallies were goal scorer’s goals.
The Giants opened the scoring on the PP in the first. Casey Pierro-Zabotel won the face-off back to Jonathon Blum. Blum ripped one which went in off of a Rocket’s glove in the slot. Backlund tied up the game a few minutes later, threading a shot five-hole through traffic from the slot. The Giants scored a second PP marker, when Evander Kane found the top of the net off a Brent Regner pass from behind the net. Regner later found James Henry with a sweet rocket onto his stick, through the neutral zone. Henry went in all alone faked and picked top corner short side on Mark Guggenberger who was merely okay tonight. The only goal of the second came off of Backlund’s stick and a great individual highlight reel effort on the PP. Tyson Barrie found a streaking Backlund who cut into the slot, split the D and roofed the puck on Sexsmith. Just before mid-third Tyler Myers was tagged with a very ugly boarding call where he got all of Craig Schira’s head from behind into the glass. Schira was cut badly in several places and appeared to have suffered a concussion. Myers was given a five-minute match penalty for the hit. Kane scored his second of the game on the ensuing PP, lifting the puck from the side of the net over a sprawling Guggenberger. With time ticking down Benn and Almond scored off of the Giants failure to clear their zone.
On both goals the Giants had a good chance to get the puck out of the zone, but failing to do so had them scrambling and they were burned. The Rockets won in OT after trailing by two goals twice in the game. The Kelowna boys had some bad puck luck at times tonight, but managed to bury the majority of their quality chances. For the third game in a row the Giants were badly out-shot – something this team is most definitely not known for, as the Rockets weren’t really known for their defense before this series, but they ended up being the difference. You can’t blame Tyson Sexsmith tonight as he weathered some seriously good chances, holding his team in the game when they started scrambling, but he was abandoned one too many times by his teammates and the wickedly potent offense of the Rockets made him pay. Backlund played a monster game, notching the hat-trick and the game winning (and series ending) goal in OT. It doesn’t get much more dramatic than that. I’ll bet the Kelowna boys are happy that the Calgary Flames decided to move him to a Dub team at the trade deadline.
Had the Giants forced a Game 7, as they should have done in this one, Myers might have been suspended (might still be suspended for game one of the Hitmen series) giving Kane a lot more ice to play with, but it was not meant to be as the Giants gave this game away with sloppy play and poor focus. When they should have been putting the boots in there they backed off and got burned. The Giants only managed 17 shots on net in the game with yet another franchise low of 1 lonely shot in the second. Really pathetic if you ask me. The Rockets were willing to pay the price and go to the net tonight, they were willing to work harder in the third out-shooting the G-Men 18-6. They brought traffic to the front of the net and were getting quality scoring chances from the doorstep. The Giants usually keep the shots to the outside, but the Rockets managed to get inside a few too many times for my liking.
A word to Hay and the Giants: in a Game 6 when you are down by a game and up by two goals and those goals came from hard work around the net and drawing penalties with a solid forecheck, you do not back off into a shell against the kind of powerful offense the Rockets possess. Actually you don’t back-off against any team. Not too pleased with how easily the Rockets were allowed to come back in this one and the boys lost the game the way they dropped the last two, by not bringing full effort for the whole game. Too many passengers on this team during these playoffs and it was a combination of luck and the right guy stepping up that the Giants were able to get past the Chiefs. The Rockets deserved to win this series, but it would have been really nice to see it go back to Vancouver for a Game 7 and had the Giants taken care of their end of the ice it would have.
The Giants were 3 for 5 on the PP, but only managed one early in the five minute major which could have allowed them to put the final nails in the coffin and drop it into the ground. The Rockets went 2 for 4, getting themselves back into the game with a 4 on 3 advantage in the third. The home team out-shot the visitors 32-17. The Rockets are going to have a task taking on the Calgary Hitmen, who have bigger forwards than the Giants, more elite players and as a good a D and the top goalie in the league in the playoffs. Guggenberger is a slightly above-average goalie who really should have had a tougher time with the Giants in his face, but instead he was practically gifted two shutouts wrapped in a big red bow, facing minimal ( most of which were low-percentage) shots to get the two goose-eggs. I personally don’t think he has a hope in hell versus the Hitmen snipers.
I’d just like to thanks the boys for a hell of a season. Third round is admirable, but really they could have made it easier on themselves by showing up for all the games ready to compete. They didn’t and that really disappointed me after such a great season, a lot of our major performers disappeared. CPZ who lead the league in scoring vanished in the post-season and retuned to the player we saw when he arrived last year. A lazy gliding player who had no intensity – unfortunately we saw that player again in these playoffs. I don’t like that player, I like the player who showed up in the regular season, was hitting, skating, hustling and setting up beautiful plays. Nick Ross who was supposed to be this top defenseman was a great liability with frequent give-aways and poor inconsistency. Kane will be a great player, but in these playoffs he was keyed on and was merely a good player. He still needs to learn how to take over a game and make it his, carrying his team on his back and motivating them to step it up. There were a few other passengers, but the Giants suffered a bit from a fragility I have rarely seen in this team during the post-season and that fragility scared me a bit. I’m hoping its not catching, because I’d hate to see it next season. The odd thing is that the boys have nothing to be fragile about, they are a strong team than can play any team, but they need to show up. In this series the Rockets dominated more with great positional play than with the physical game everybody thought they would bring. The Giants are done and had a good run, but I have to say its their own fault they dropped this series. They were not really so much beat as they beat themselves and right now that’s what really hurts.
Three Stars
1) Mikael Backlund
2) Evander Kane
3) Jamie Benn
Rd 3 Game 6
Rockets Burn Giants
Vancouver 4 Kelowna 5 OT
Don Robinson
The Rockets eliminated the Giants off of a contested goal which looked to be a highstick in the high slot, but was called a goal in the end. The problem is that the Giants should never have let the game go to OT at all as they had control of the game up 4-2, ‘til 15:55 of the final frame and then the wheels came off. The Giants were weathering a four on four and tagged for a softish penalty in front of their net putting the Rockets up 4 on 3. Colin Long used the advantage to find Jamie Benn alone in the slot with a pass from behind the net. Benn buried the puck. The Giants failed to get the puck from their zone on the ensuing shift and gave up a goal 33 seconds later allowing the Rockets to tie a game they never should even have been in, had the Giants continued to play their normal solid hockey. Backlund scored three goals in the game including the disputed marker to win in OT. His two earlier tallies were goal scorer’s goals.
The Giants opened the scoring on the PP in the first. Casey Pierro-Zabotel won the face-off back to Jonathon Blum. Blum ripped one which went in off of a Rocket’s glove in the slot. Backlund tied up the game a few minutes later, threading a shot five-hole through traffic from the slot. The Giants scored a second PP marker, when Evander Kane found the top of the net off a Brent Regner pass from behind the net. Regner later found James Henry with a sweet rocket onto his stick, through the neutral zone. Henry went in all alone faked and picked top corner short side on Mark Guggenberger who was merely okay tonight. The only goal of the second came off of Backlund’s stick and a great individual highlight reel effort on the PP. Tyson Barrie found a streaking Backlund who cut into the slot, split the D and roofed the puck on Sexsmith. Just before mid-third Tyler Myers was tagged with a very ugly boarding call where he got all of Craig Schira’s head from behind into the glass. Schira was cut badly in several places and appeared to have suffered a concussion. Myers was given a five-minute match penalty for the hit. Kane scored his second of the game on the ensuing PP, lifting the puck from the side of the net over a sprawling Guggenberger. With time ticking down Benn and Almond scored off of the Giants failure to clear their zone.
On both goals the Giants had a good chance to get the puck out of the zone, but failing to do so had them scrambling and they were burned. The Rockets won in OT after trailing by two goals twice in the game. The Kelowna boys had some bad puck luck at times tonight, but managed to bury the majority of their quality chances. For the third game in a row the Giants were badly out-shot – something this team is most definitely not known for, as the Rockets weren’t really known for their defense before this series, but they ended up being the difference. You can’t blame Tyson Sexsmith tonight as he weathered some seriously good chances, holding his team in the game when they started scrambling, but he was abandoned one too many times by his teammates and the wickedly potent offense of the Rockets made him pay. Backlund played a monster game, notching the hat-trick and the game winning (and series ending) goal in OT. It doesn’t get much more dramatic than that. I’ll bet the Kelowna boys are happy that the Calgary Flames decided to move him to a Dub team at the trade deadline.
Had the Giants forced a Game 7, as they should have done in this one, Myers might have been suspended (might still be suspended for game one of the Hitmen series) giving Kane a lot more ice to play with, but it was not meant to be as the Giants gave this game away with sloppy play and poor focus. When they should have been putting the boots in there they backed off and got burned. The Giants only managed 17 shots on net in the game with yet another franchise low of 1 lonely shot in the second. Really pathetic if you ask me. The Rockets were willing to pay the price and go to the net tonight, they were willing to work harder in the third out-shooting the G-Men 18-6. They brought traffic to the front of the net and were getting quality scoring chances from the doorstep. The Giants usually keep the shots to the outside, but the Rockets managed to get inside a few too many times for my liking.
A word to Hay and the Giants: in a Game 6 when you are down by a game and up by two goals and those goals came from hard work around the net and drawing penalties with a solid forecheck, you do not back off into a shell against the kind of powerful offense the Rockets possess. Actually you don’t back-off against any team. Not too pleased with how easily the Rockets were allowed to come back in this one and the boys lost the game the way they dropped the last two, by not bringing full effort for the whole game. Too many passengers on this team during these playoffs and it was a combination of luck and the right guy stepping up that the Giants were able to get past the Chiefs. The Rockets deserved to win this series, but it would have been really nice to see it go back to Vancouver for a Game 7 and had the Giants taken care of their end of the ice it would have.
The Giants were 3 for 5 on the PP, but only managed one early in the five minute major which could have allowed them to put the final nails in the coffin and drop it into the ground. The Rockets went 2 for 4, getting themselves back into the game with a 4 on 3 advantage in the third. The home team out-shot the visitors 32-17. The Rockets are going to have a task taking on the Calgary Hitmen, who have bigger forwards than the Giants, more elite players and as a good a D and the top goalie in the league in the playoffs. Guggenberger is a slightly above-average goalie who really should have had a tougher time with the Giants in his face, but instead he was practically gifted two shutouts wrapped in a big red bow, facing minimal ( most of which were low-percentage) shots to get the two goose-eggs. I personally don’t think he has a hope in hell versus the Hitmen snipers.
I’d just like to thanks the boys for a hell of a season. Third round is admirable, but really they could have made it easier on themselves by showing up for all the games ready to compete. They didn’t and that really disappointed me after such a great season, a lot of our major performers disappeared. CPZ who lead the league in scoring vanished in the post-season and retuned to the player we saw when he arrived last year. A lazy gliding player who had no intensity – unfortunately we saw that player again in these playoffs. I don’t like that player, I like the player who showed up in the regular season, was hitting, skating, hustling and setting up beautiful plays. Nick Ross who was supposed to be this top defenseman was a great liability with frequent give-aways and poor inconsistency. Kane will be a great player, but in these playoffs he was keyed on and was merely a good player. He still needs to learn how to take over a game and make it his, carrying his team on his back and motivating them to step it up. There were a few other passengers, but the Giants suffered a bit from a fragility I have rarely seen in this team during the post-season and that fragility scared me a bit. I’m hoping its not catching, because I’d hate to see it next season. The odd thing is that the boys have nothing to be fragile about, they are a strong team than can play any team, but they need to show up. In this series the Rockets dominated more with great positional play than with the physical game everybody thought they would bring. The Giants are done and had a good run, but I have to say its their own fault they dropped this series. They were not really so much beat as they beat themselves and right now that’s what really hurts.
Three Stars
1) Mikael Backlund
2) Evander Kane
3) Jamie Benn