dondo
03-13-2011, 08:15 PM
Bruins Batter Giants
Vancouver 5 Chilliwack 8
Spencer Bennett and James Henry tried their damnedest to give their team a chance to win. Unfortunately that was after the Giants had already gifted the Bruins 4 unanswered goals in just under 10 minutes, which chased Mark Segal on yet another start from the net. You would think 5 straight losses would warrant changing things up a bit, if only to alter the team’s karma, but nope. The coaching staff challenged the veterans to set-up their game and Henry and Bennett were listening, sadly not many others were. The Giants used their PP to best advantage doing some of things they failed to do in the past few games, namely going to the net with the puck and taking the shot. Bennett scored two PP markers, but the Giants gave up a bad goal with 9 secs left in the period squandering a lot of that good work with the man advantage. The Bruins restored their four goal bulge in the second. Cue Bennett, to come back with two more, one on the PP (for the hat-trick) and one SH off of some excellent work by Henry to draw back within two. In the third the Giants let another one in, got it back and then ran themselves out of time. The Giants pressure was simply not sufficient for being down as far as they were and they gave the Bruins easy goals in this one. The Bruins added an empty-netter with seconds left to salt away the victory.
The Bruins opened the game with three even-strength goals, two of which were off of Kevin Sundher’s stick and one of which was scored by Brandon Manning. Robin Soudek added a PP marker around the ten minute mark, chasing the ‘tender from the net. The Giants had their PP clicking a bit later and Spencer scored two of his own with the man-advantage, assisted by Jordan Martinook and Greg Lamoureux. Henry and Andrej Stastny had the helpers on the second tally. The Giants allowed a bad goal with 9 secs left as Jamie Crooks found the twine just 39 secs after Bennett drew his team to within two. The Bruins got the first goal of the second with another PP marker. The Giants had a PP not long after where Bennett notched his hat-trick, marker assisted by Henry and Stastny. Bennett went hard to the net on short-handed breakaway, as Henry took the puck around the net going for the wrap-around and dished it off Bennett on the doorstep. Ryan Howse scored his second goal of the game in the third period, restoring the Bruins three goal lead. Cain Franson drew it back to within two for the third time in the game, as Nathan Smith, who had a pretty clear shot himself, dished it off the Franson at the last moment. Franson buried it backhanded past Lucas Gore. Joel Rogers back from injury got the other helper. Soudek scored an empty netter with 10 secs left to put the game to bed.
Rookie Watch: Hart sat (shoulder week-to-week), Hodder sat in favour of Blake Orban, who brought a bigger body on the back-end. Sward was a scratch, possibly with a knee problem as I have learned he was seen skating gingerly off the ice vs PG – no wonder I didn’t see him late in that game. Bellerive was in and an even in yet another line-up of minuses. Nathan Smith was even with an assist. Franson had a goal and was a rare +1.
Fight Night: An early bout between Vannieuwenhuizen and Gogol was quick, but important to clear the air. Joel Rogers fought Dylen McKinlay in a decent tilt.
Zebra Cage: Lots of calls in this one, some pretty soft, a lot seemed to be even-up calls (something I personally never like to see). Tons of roughing and some misconducts in the first and second and then the refs put the whistles away in the third. Really? You’re telling me that the intensity didn’t continue, or you just decided to stop calling things you had called all game? This was especially criminal with the PP being hugely important momentum shifters in this particular game. In my not so unbiased opinion - Derek Zalaski continues to suck, dragging along Ryan Bonnet into the mire with him in this one. The only call of the third was a single roughing call. I call foul.
The Bruins out shot the Giants by a slim margin 35-33 and the Giants did not step it up shot-wise in the third, as they should have. Managing a paltry 7 shots trying to come back is not how it’s done. The Giants went 3 for 5 on the PP and Bruins were 2 for 6. The Giants were very guilty of passing when they had the shot several times in the game, but most notably in the third period. They were also once again very careless with the puck, including their net-minders, as one of the goals was a gift off of a poor play with the puck.
The story of the game was Bennett and Henry stepping up their game and I was hoping others would follow suit. The other story of the game for me at least, was the Giants allowing 4 unanswered goals in the first ten minutes of the game, putting themselves deep behind the proverbial eight-ball. Mark Segal was the goaltender between the pipes, but some feel I have been too rough on him, so I’ll blame the players for allowing 4 goals on 9 shots. The boys did not do their job defensively, but neither did the Bruins. Goals were easy to come by and the boys should probably have been able to find the twine a few more times with better effort across the roster. Some bright pluses in the mix as Bennett, Franson and Rogers were the only plus players. Neil Manning carried the biggest minus at –4, but he was not alone in his struggles as a few players were –3 and a fair amount –2. The Giants goals were scored on the PP and SH so the pluses were not really spread around. Henry had three helpers in the game.
The Giants have a couple of days off before heading down to Portland to try and kill this losing streak, but I personally don’t like their chances. Portland is a monster team that have dominated the Giants this season and the boys will need the kind of heart and effort and focus they have been lacking. To be fair I have to say that the boys haven’t had the best puck luck lately, but then they haven’t earned that kind of puck luck either. More than a few of their players are struggling with their finish around the net and they have to correct that. They must restore the aggressive back-check that used to be a Giants trade-mark and the work ethic that their fans expect. Win or lose they damn well better be leaving everything they have on the ice. Lately they haven’t and its not enjoyable, not Giants hockey and disrespectful to their coach, their team-mates, their fans and the game. The puck drops in Portland at 7pm on Wednesday March 16th. Let’s hope the boys show up from the drop of the puck throughout the full sixty (plus). Let’s also hope that Gallagher, who so far has been symptom free and is day to day, will be back in the line-up.
Three Stars
1. Ryan Howse
2. Spencer Bennett
3. Kevin Sundher
Dondo’s Doghouse: Henry and Bennet have come out into the light; Franson has poked out his nose for now. The PK still needs to work a whole lot harder challenging the puck carrier. All of them have to go hard to the net and gut out for those tough goals.
Vancouver 5 Chilliwack 8
Spencer Bennett and James Henry tried their damnedest to give their team a chance to win. Unfortunately that was after the Giants had already gifted the Bruins 4 unanswered goals in just under 10 minutes, which chased Mark Segal on yet another start from the net. You would think 5 straight losses would warrant changing things up a bit, if only to alter the team’s karma, but nope. The coaching staff challenged the veterans to set-up their game and Henry and Bennett were listening, sadly not many others were. The Giants used their PP to best advantage doing some of things they failed to do in the past few games, namely going to the net with the puck and taking the shot. Bennett scored two PP markers, but the Giants gave up a bad goal with 9 secs left in the period squandering a lot of that good work with the man advantage. The Bruins restored their four goal bulge in the second. Cue Bennett, to come back with two more, one on the PP (for the hat-trick) and one SH off of some excellent work by Henry to draw back within two. In the third the Giants let another one in, got it back and then ran themselves out of time. The Giants pressure was simply not sufficient for being down as far as they were and they gave the Bruins easy goals in this one. The Bruins added an empty-netter with seconds left to salt away the victory.
The Bruins opened the game with three even-strength goals, two of which were off of Kevin Sundher’s stick and one of which was scored by Brandon Manning. Robin Soudek added a PP marker around the ten minute mark, chasing the ‘tender from the net. The Giants had their PP clicking a bit later and Spencer scored two of his own with the man-advantage, assisted by Jordan Martinook and Greg Lamoureux. Henry and Andrej Stastny had the helpers on the second tally. The Giants allowed a bad goal with 9 secs left as Jamie Crooks found the twine just 39 secs after Bennett drew his team to within two. The Bruins got the first goal of the second with another PP marker. The Giants had a PP not long after where Bennett notched his hat-trick, marker assisted by Henry and Stastny. Bennett went hard to the net on short-handed breakaway, as Henry took the puck around the net going for the wrap-around and dished it off Bennett on the doorstep. Ryan Howse scored his second goal of the game in the third period, restoring the Bruins three goal lead. Cain Franson drew it back to within two for the third time in the game, as Nathan Smith, who had a pretty clear shot himself, dished it off the Franson at the last moment. Franson buried it backhanded past Lucas Gore. Joel Rogers back from injury got the other helper. Soudek scored an empty netter with 10 secs left to put the game to bed.
Rookie Watch: Hart sat (shoulder week-to-week), Hodder sat in favour of Blake Orban, who brought a bigger body on the back-end. Sward was a scratch, possibly with a knee problem as I have learned he was seen skating gingerly off the ice vs PG – no wonder I didn’t see him late in that game. Bellerive was in and an even in yet another line-up of minuses. Nathan Smith was even with an assist. Franson had a goal and was a rare +1.
Fight Night: An early bout between Vannieuwenhuizen and Gogol was quick, but important to clear the air. Joel Rogers fought Dylen McKinlay in a decent tilt.
Zebra Cage: Lots of calls in this one, some pretty soft, a lot seemed to be even-up calls (something I personally never like to see). Tons of roughing and some misconducts in the first and second and then the refs put the whistles away in the third. Really? You’re telling me that the intensity didn’t continue, or you just decided to stop calling things you had called all game? This was especially criminal with the PP being hugely important momentum shifters in this particular game. In my not so unbiased opinion - Derek Zalaski continues to suck, dragging along Ryan Bonnet into the mire with him in this one. The only call of the third was a single roughing call. I call foul.
The Bruins out shot the Giants by a slim margin 35-33 and the Giants did not step it up shot-wise in the third, as they should have. Managing a paltry 7 shots trying to come back is not how it’s done. The Giants went 3 for 5 on the PP and Bruins were 2 for 6. The Giants were very guilty of passing when they had the shot several times in the game, but most notably in the third period. They were also once again very careless with the puck, including their net-minders, as one of the goals was a gift off of a poor play with the puck.
The story of the game was Bennett and Henry stepping up their game and I was hoping others would follow suit. The other story of the game for me at least, was the Giants allowing 4 unanswered goals in the first ten minutes of the game, putting themselves deep behind the proverbial eight-ball. Mark Segal was the goaltender between the pipes, but some feel I have been too rough on him, so I’ll blame the players for allowing 4 goals on 9 shots. The boys did not do their job defensively, but neither did the Bruins. Goals were easy to come by and the boys should probably have been able to find the twine a few more times with better effort across the roster. Some bright pluses in the mix as Bennett, Franson and Rogers were the only plus players. Neil Manning carried the biggest minus at –4, but he was not alone in his struggles as a few players were –3 and a fair amount –2. The Giants goals were scored on the PP and SH so the pluses were not really spread around. Henry had three helpers in the game.
The Giants have a couple of days off before heading down to Portland to try and kill this losing streak, but I personally don’t like their chances. Portland is a monster team that have dominated the Giants this season and the boys will need the kind of heart and effort and focus they have been lacking. To be fair I have to say that the boys haven’t had the best puck luck lately, but then they haven’t earned that kind of puck luck either. More than a few of their players are struggling with their finish around the net and they have to correct that. They must restore the aggressive back-check that used to be a Giants trade-mark and the work ethic that their fans expect. Win or lose they damn well better be leaving everything they have on the ice. Lately they haven’t and its not enjoyable, not Giants hockey and disrespectful to their coach, their team-mates, their fans and the game. The puck drops in Portland at 7pm on Wednesday March 16th. Let’s hope the boys show up from the drop of the puck throughout the full sixty (plus). Let’s also hope that Gallagher, who so far has been symptom free and is day to day, will be back in the line-up.
Three Stars
1. Ryan Howse
2. Spencer Bennett
3. Kevin Sundher
Dondo’s Doghouse: Henry and Bennet have come out into the light; Franson has poked out his nose for now. The PK still needs to work a whole lot harder challenging the puck carrier. All of them have to go hard to the net and gut out for those tough goals.