dondo
11-14-2010, 02:57 PM
Cougars Nip Giants
Vancouver 2 Prince George 3 OT/SO
The old adage good to be lucky, lucky to be good could be applied to Brendan Jensen in this one as he got quite a few breaks in the second where the Cougars had all the momentum, but just couldn’t capitalize. The Giants had a great first period, the kind their fans love to see, out-working and out-shooting their opponent, and then for some reason ceased to play in the second and through most of the third. Part of that was Prince George waking up, another part was some precious reffing that took what was looking to be a feisty knock-down drag ‘em out affair and pulled out its teeth and dulled its claws with soft calls, but the main part would have to be that the Giants began to over-think, sit back in the neutral zone and pass when they had shooting lanes. It’s the biggest kind of frustration for the fans when you see your squad come out ready to play and then slowly sag as they stop doing the things that got them the lead. Getting 22 shots on goal in the first, 5 in the second and 10 in the third (most of them coming after the game was tied) is truly not acceptable, not a coaching issue and something this inexperienced squad has to learn not to do. The thing is that this team has all the tools to secure these wins, but they need to get out of their heads and stop making that extra pass, and just put their heads down and drive the net. The G’s garnered a point in this one, but should have had two denying PG any. Instead they gifted this game on a freaking platter to PG, losing in the shoot-out.
The Giants opened the scoring on the PP in the first, off of some nice work by Craig Cunningham and Matt MacKay driving the net, with Gallagher finishing off the play on the doorstep to get the goal. MacKay got one of his own a few minutes later hunting around the net and snapping a nice wrister past Ty Rimmer. The first was filled with the rough stuff as both squads seemed to have burrs under their respective saddles, but unfortunately for the Giants that emotion and energy did not carry over into the other periods.
I’m not sure if they consciously sat back on the lead, but it sure felt like it. Prince George played a smarter game in the second, but were taking some poor penalties and giving the Giants the chance to extend their lead, which they failed to do despite numerous, at times 2 man, advantages. The Giants managed a pathetic and paltry 5 shots on goal despite having all of these gifts to get a chance at the net. They spent the majority of their time over-passing and giving up clean shooting lanes for blocked passing lanes. It just made no sense. The Cougars were pretty solid at clogging up those shooting lanes, but the Giants lack of quick puck-movement and unwillingness to have someone right on the doorstep killed them. Rimmer also made quite a few really nice stops in close on the few shots he faced. The Giants failing to get some insurance bit them in the end (as it almost did versus Red Deer), when the Cougars potted two of their own in the third tying the game. The G’s had a brief bounce-back with the score tied, but ran themselves out of minutes. OT was pretty even and the shoot-out saw the Giants snipers bobbling the puck on their way to the net. MacKay scored the only goal for the Giants and Jensen failed to stop Connolly who ripped it top corner after pressing the young ‘tender back into his crease and then allowed the next shooter to slip it past him with a deke.
Rookie Watch: Dalton Sward played on a line with Cain Franson and Matt Bellerive at times tonight and despite their youth and inexperience the line looked pretty good. Sward also had some shifts with Michael Burns and Matt MacKay and was a +1. Tyler Hart was -1 and struggled at times in his own end moving the puck safely.
Fight Night: A few tilts in this one, with none of Giants players really getting the best of it. Nathan Burns stepped in when Gallagher was leveled and took a beating from Cody Carlson, but kudos for stepping up. Brett Lyon didn’t fair much better, getting hung up early managing to get himself free, but then taking a bunch from Sena Acolatse before being horse collared to the ice. Joshua Smith took an open ice run at a vulnerable player, the exact kind of hit the NHL is doggedly trying to take out of their game, with a shoulder to the head. Credit Jordan Martinook for stepping in and taking the instigator to give Smith a lesson. One of the more balanced fights of the nights, Martinook still took the worst of it in the end. Unfortunately the Cougars scored their only PP goal of the game on that penalty.
Zebra Cage: Some pretty precious reffing in this one. In my mind it kind of killed the good emotion and drive early on. The calls were fairly consistent though, but I would have liked to see a few less of the ticky tack ones and more waiting until they actually affected play.
The Giants PP is hemorrhaging right now mainly due to the lack of shooters willing to take the shot. Manning seems to be the only D-man who can consistently get it through from the point and players like Cunningham and Gallagher are opting to pass rather than shoot more like they did when they had their strong offensive out puts earlier this season. The lack of a body in front of the net is disappointing as well. PK is okay when they challenge the puck carrier, but when they sit back and wait for the play to develop they get caught flatfooted and are less quick in their response to the flow of the play. The Giants had too many giveaways and poor slot passes, as well giving up short-handed chances that Jensen had to thwart, for my liking. I am liking Jensen’s play and his recovery skills are very good, but he still has some growing yet to do. I don’t blame him on either goal and the tying marker came off of Martin Marincin being allowed to drift unmolested into the high slot, with a enough time for a huge wind-up and a wicked slapper that simply beat Jensen. That kind of room cannot be allowed if the Giants hope to win these kinds of games.
The Giants newest acquisition Brendan Rowinski, a 20 yr old who had 30goals last season, has yet to be medically cleared to play. The Giants have almost a week off before their next tilt - ideally with Rowinski learning how hard the Giants practice and getting on the same page as the Vancouver squad. Hay sees Brendan slotting in as a second line centre, possibly with Henry and MacKay to give the Giants some more scoring punch they feel like they are currently lacking. Hopefully the week of practice will not develop rust on the team as it did their last mini-break, but instead re-energize them for their next tilt.
Three Stars
1. Martin Marincin
2. Matt MacKay
3. Brendan Jensen
Dondo’s Doghouse: Despite getting a goal the PP is looking very stinky lately, not really garnering great scoring chances and over working the puck, running the boys out of minutes. Not capitalizing on a few 5 on 3 chances or really getting great chances is not acceptable.
Vancouver 2 Prince George 3 OT/SO
The old adage good to be lucky, lucky to be good could be applied to Brendan Jensen in this one as he got quite a few breaks in the second where the Cougars had all the momentum, but just couldn’t capitalize. The Giants had a great first period, the kind their fans love to see, out-working and out-shooting their opponent, and then for some reason ceased to play in the second and through most of the third. Part of that was Prince George waking up, another part was some precious reffing that took what was looking to be a feisty knock-down drag ‘em out affair and pulled out its teeth and dulled its claws with soft calls, but the main part would have to be that the Giants began to over-think, sit back in the neutral zone and pass when they had shooting lanes. It’s the biggest kind of frustration for the fans when you see your squad come out ready to play and then slowly sag as they stop doing the things that got them the lead. Getting 22 shots on goal in the first, 5 in the second and 10 in the third (most of them coming after the game was tied) is truly not acceptable, not a coaching issue and something this inexperienced squad has to learn not to do. The thing is that this team has all the tools to secure these wins, but they need to get out of their heads and stop making that extra pass, and just put their heads down and drive the net. The G’s garnered a point in this one, but should have had two denying PG any. Instead they gifted this game on a freaking platter to PG, losing in the shoot-out.
The Giants opened the scoring on the PP in the first, off of some nice work by Craig Cunningham and Matt MacKay driving the net, with Gallagher finishing off the play on the doorstep to get the goal. MacKay got one of his own a few minutes later hunting around the net and snapping a nice wrister past Ty Rimmer. The first was filled with the rough stuff as both squads seemed to have burrs under their respective saddles, but unfortunately for the Giants that emotion and energy did not carry over into the other periods.
I’m not sure if they consciously sat back on the lead, but it sure felt like it. Prince George played a smarter game in the second, but were taking some poor penalties and giving the Giants the chance to extend their lead, which they failed to do despite numerous, at times 2 man, advantages. The Giants managed a pathetic and paltry 5 shots on goal despite having all of these gifts to get a chance at the net. They spent the majority of their time over-passing and giving up clean shooting lanes for blocked passing lanes. It just made no sense. The Cougars were pretty solid at clogging up those shooting lanes, but the Giants lack of quick puck-movement and unwillingness to have someone right on the doorstep killed them. Rimmer also made quite a few really nice stops in close on the few shots he faced. The Giants failing to get some insurance bit them in the end (as it almost did versus Red Deer), when the Cougars potted two of their own in the third tying the game. The G’s had a brief bounce-back with the score tied, but ran themselves out of minutes. OT was pretty even and the shoot-out saw the Giants snipers bobbling the puck on their way to the net. MacKay scored the only goal for the Giants and Jensen failed to stop Connolly who ripped it top corner after pressing the young ‘tender back into his crease and then allowed the next shooter to slip it past him with a deke.
Rookie Watch: Dalton Sward played on a line with Cain Franson and Matt Bellerive at times tonight and despite their youth and inexperience the line looked pretty good. Sward also had some shifts with Michael Burns and Matt MacKay and was a +1. Tyler Hart was -1 and struggled at times in his own end moving the puck safely.
Fight Night: A few tilts in this one, with none of Giants players really getting the best of it. Nathan Burns stepped in when Gallagher was leveled and took a beating from Cody Carlson, but kudos for stepping up. Brett Lyon didn’t fair much better, getting hung up early managing to get himself free, but then taking a bunch from Sena Acolatse before being horse collared to the ice. Joshua Smith took an open ice run at a vulnerable player, the exact kind of hit the NHL is doggedly trying to take out of their game, with a shoulder to the head. Credit Jordan Martinook for stepping in and taking the instigator to give Smith a lesson. One of the more balanced fights of the nights, Martinook still took the worst of it in the end. Unfortunately the Cougars scored their only PP goal of the game on that penalty.
Zebra Cage: Some pretty precious reffing in this one. In my mind it kind of killed the good emotion and drive early on. The calls were fairly consistent though, but I would have liked to see a few less of the ticky tack ones and more waiting until they actually affected play.
The Giants PP is hemorrhaging right now mainly due to the lack of shooters willing to take the shot. Manning seems to be the only D-man who can consistently get it through from the point and players like Cunningham and Gallagher are opting to pass rather than shoot more like they did when they had their strong offensive out puts earlier this season. The lack of a body in front of the net is disappointing as well. PK is okay when they challenge the puck carrier, but when they sit back and wait for the play to develop they get caught flatfooted and are less quick in their response to the flow of the play. The Giants had too many giveaways and poor slot passes, as well giving up short-handed chances that Jensen had to thwart, for my liking. I am liking Jensen’s play and his recovery skills are very good, but he still has some growing yet to do. I don’t blame him on either goal and the tying marker came off of Martin Marincin being allowed to drift unmolested into the high slot, with a enough time for a huge wind-up and a wicked slapper that simply beat Jensen. That kind of room cannot be allowed if the Giants hope to win these kinds of games.
The Giants newest acquisition Brendan Rowinski, a 20 yr old who had 30goals last season, has yet to be medically cleared to play. The Giants have almost a week off before their next tilt - ideally with Rowinski learning how hard the Giants practice and getting on the same page as the Vancouver squad. Hay sees Brendan slotting in as a second line centre, possibly with Henry and MacKay to give the Giants some more scoring punch they feel like they are currently lacking. Hopefully the week of practice will not develop rust on the team as it did their last mini-break, but instead re-energize them for their next tilt.
Three Stars
1. Martin Marincin
2. Matt MacKay
3. Brendan Jensen
Dondo’s Doghouse: Despite getting a goal the PP is looking very stinky lately, not really garnering great scoring chances and over working the puck, running the boys out of minutes. Not capitalizing on a few 5 on 3 chances or really getting great chances is not acceptable.