dondo
03-08-2012, 01:36 AM
Americans Trim Giants
Vancouver 1 Tri-City 2 OT
It was one of those nights where neither team was willing to give the other room to move or make plays. An intense tight-checking affair, where the players had to battle through traffic and fight for every puck possession. This is a game the Giants should probably have won, as they garnered the better chances, but a bit of a lack of discipline and some other factors prevented them from putting home a dagger goal. The G’s PK was about as good as it gets tonight, only giving up a single PP marker down 4 men to 3 in OT and failing to clear the puck when they had the chance, twice. The Ams capitalized and finally got one of those cross-crease passes they usually make as a matter of course, to find the back of the net off of an open look. The Giants PP looked dangerous and they got pucks to the net, but were boxed out by some Ams excellent positioning stopping the G-Men from getting to the rebounds. Often games versus the Americans are a snooze-fest as they play a turn-over game, sitting back in the neutral zone a lot, but in this one they brought a strong forecheck. The Giants made only two sloppy turnovers in this game and both resulted in decent scoring chances; that’s how dangerous the Ams can be with their transition game. This game was more intense than these two teams usually put together and the G’s were in the mix the whole time. The hard work and commitment was total throughout the line-up and it was good to see, with maybe two exceptions and even those were better than normal.
Dalton Sward opened the scoring early in the first from a bad angle (ie: the goal-line) finding room through the wickets on Ty Rimmer, who had to make several point blank shots to keep his team in the game early. Matt Bellerive got the only assist on the play. The game remained that way until late in the second when Adam Hughesman got a few swipes at a loose puck by the post. It felt like the puck sat there for seconds, but no-one seemed to be able to react quickly enough as the Am player barely got a tip of stick on it sliding it across the line. The Giants took a lazy penalty in OT, off of a bit of bonus embellishment from my perspective, and gave the Ams a great chance to take the extra point. The G’s were doing well and had two chances to clear the puck, but fanned and then fired the puck right at the man at the point failing to clear and it hurt them. Off the ensuing face-off the Americans got the puck across the slot to an open Justin Feser and it was all over.
Zebra Cage: Jeff Ingram and Brett Iverson.. started out a bit soft and then got quite petty. They were both inconsistent, made some serious supposition calls more from impression than reality and did not call the game the same way on both sides of the puck. It was far too reactive for supposedly objective officials. Add-in a few too many very late whistles for icings and off-sides and the zebra-types did not have a good night.
The Giants out-shot the Americans 27-20, but the shot tallies seemed to not reflect what was going on the ice. The Ams were 1 for 7 on the PP, while the G’s went 0 for 2. Both teams blocked a ton of shots and were very good at occupying shooting lanes and keeping shots to the outside. The Giants got some great point blank chances off of some hard work, but Rimmer was solid down low, even though he seemed a tad scrambly at times. Adam Morrison did what he had to keep his team close, did not allow rebounds and was positionally very solid. The Giants rarely made him scramble to make saves though as they kept the Ams hemmed up. I was very happy to see them not sit back. In this kind of game they couldn’t afford to, but when they do that versus this team especially they get burned. The only way to beat the Ams is to be in their face and limit their ability to use their daunting skill. When you have three players on one line all north of 100 points for the season you need to pay attention and give them no room to make plays. The G’s did that tonight and had success with that strategy.
The Giants have a pretty tough challenge this weekend as they play the Blazers in a home at home series. The Blazers dumped the Winterhawks 5-1 tonight and the Ams 2 points put them back at the top of the West as the Blazers, Winterhawks and Americans continue to jockey for position at the top of the standings. The Giants and Chiefs both garnered one point tonight and remain tied for fourth in the West with one another. The Chiefs have a game in hand. Season ticket holders have one more game to cash in their unused tickets. March 16th , the final home game of the regular season, is an unused season ticket night. The Giants need to continue to bring the kind of mind-set they had tonight for the rest of their games and play as if the playoffs are already here. I loved their game tonight and although they took the loss, the type of game and level of commitment was excellent. The puck on Friday drops at the usual 7:30pm and should be a very intense tilt versus the Blazers, a team the Giants have had some success and some failure against this season.
Three Stars
1. Ty Rimmer
2. Justin Feser
3. David Musil
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to .. Dalton Sward.. blocked shots, laid the body well, was active every shift and got the Giants only goal taking a shot the G’s tend not to take. Kudos for taking that shot. As Gretzky once said: “…you do not score on 100% of the shots you do not take.”
Vancouver 1 Tri-City 2 OT
It was one of those nights where neither team was willing to give the other room to move or make plays. An intense tight-checking affair, where the players had to battle through traffic and fight for every puck possession. This is a game the Giants should probably have won, as they garnered the better chances, but a bit of a lack of discipline and some other factors prevented them from putting home a dagger goal. The G’s PK was about as good as it gets tonight, only giving up a single PP marker down 4 men to 3 in OT and failing to clear the puck when they had the chance, twice. The Ams capitalized and finally got one of those cross-crease passes they usually make as a matter of course, to find the back of the net off of an open look. The Giants PP looked dangerous and they got pucks to the net, but were boxed out by some Ams excellent positioning stopping the G-Men from getting to the rebounds. Often games versus the Americans are a snooze-fest as they play a turn-over game, sitting back in the neutral zone a lot, but in this one they brought a strong forecheck. The Giants made only two sloppy turnovers in this game and both resulted in decent scoring chances; that’s how dangerous the Ams can be with their transition game. This game was more intense than these two teams usually put together and the G’s were in the mix the whole time. The hard work and commitment was total throughout the line-up and it was good to see, with maybe two exceptions and even those were better than normal.
Dalton Sward opened the scoring early in the first from a bad angle (ie: the goal-line) finding room through the wickets on Ty Rimmer, who had to make several point blank shots to keep his team in the game early. Matt Bellerive got the only assist on the play. The game remained that way until late in the second when Adam Hughesman got a few swipes at a loose puck by the post. It felt like the puck sat there for seconds, but no-one seemed to be able to react quickly enough as the Am player barely got a tip of stick on it sliding it across the line. The Giants took a lazy penalty in OT, off of a bit of bonus embellishment from my perspective, and gave the Ams a great chance to take the extra point. The G’s were doing well and had two chances to clear the puck, but fanned and then fired the puck right at the man at the point failing to clear and it hurt them. Off the ensuing face-off the Americans got the puck across the slot to an open Justin Feser and it was all over.
Zebra Cage: Jeff Ingram and Brett Iverson.. started out a bit soft and then got quite petty. They were both inconsistent, made some serious supposition calls more from impression than reality and did not call the game the same way on both sides of the puck. It was far too reactive for supposedly objective officials. Add-in a few too many very late whistles for icings and off-sides and the zebra-types did not have a good night.
The Giants out-shot the Americans 27-20, but the shot tallies seemed to not reflect what was going on the ice. The Ams were 1 for 7 on the PP, while the G’s went 0 for 2. Both teams blocked a ton of shots and were very good at occupying shooting lanes and keeping shots to the outside. The Giants got some great point blank chances off of some hard work, but Rimmer was solid down low, even though he seemed a tad scrambly at times. Adam Morrison did what he had to keep his team close, did not allow rebounds and was positionally very solid. The Giants rarely made him scramble to make saves though as they kept the Ams hemmed up. I was very happy to see them not sit back. In this kind of game they couldn’t afford to, but when they do that versus this team especially they get burned. The only way to beat the Ams is to be in their face and limit their ability to use their daunting skill. When you have three players on one line all north of 100 points for the season you need to pay attention and give them no room to make plays. The G’s did that tonight and had success with that strategy.
The Giants have a pretty tough challenge this weekend as they play the Blazers in a home at home series. The Blazers dumped the Winterhawks 5-1 tonight and the Ams 2 points put them back at the top of the West as the Blazers, Winterhawks and Americans continue to jockey for position at the top of the standings. The Giants and Chiefs both garnered one point tonight and remain tied for fourth in the West with one another. The Chiefs have a game in hand. Season ticket holders have one more game to cash in their unused tickets. March 16th , the final home game of the regular season, is an unused season ticket night. The Giants need to continue to bring the kind of mind-set they had tonight for the rest of their games and play as if the playoffs are already here. I loved their game tonight and although they took the loss, the type of game and level of commitment was excellent. The puck on Friday drops at the usual 7:30pm and should be a very intense tilt versus the Blazers, a team the Giants have had some success and some failure against this season.
Three Stars
1. Ty Rimmer
2. Justin Feser
3. David Musil
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to .. Dalton Sward.. blocked shots, laid the body well, was active every shift and got the Giants only goal taking a shot the G’s tend not to take. Kudos for taking that shot. As Gretzky once said: “…you do not score on 100% of the shots you do not take.”