dondo
12-08-2012, 02:11 AM
Not quite enough there tonight.
Broncos Ride Giants
Vancouver 1 Swift Current 3
After their convincing win in Victoria you would think that the Giants would bring some of that same effort back to Vancouver and they did. For about a period. Despite allowing two goals against in the first the Giants played their best game in the opening frame. They were doing what they did in Victoria, hustling, back-checking and tracking down opposing players in the offensive zone and stripping them of the puck. The Broncos checked better and closer than the Royals did though and the Giants were not given the kind of room they took in Wednesday’s game. In the latter frames though the Giants sagged and were once again that half-step behind. When they did manage to get some puck support for themselves and some good chances on net, Eetu Laurikainen was there to thwart them. The same kinds of sloppy play along the blue-line and inadvisable passes across the slot in the defensive zone added a bit of grief for the boys in this one. The boys had a lot of unfocused effort, but were in this game for the most part. I found Hay’s line-juggling to be disconcerting and the very effective line of Franson, Houck and Kessy split up more often than not. Starting Kieser between Houck and Kessy seemed to me to be counter-productive as you take away the only pure offensive player and add in another grinding player. Even defensive pairings were juggled and after so much inconsistency on this team this season some continuity of consistent lines and defensive pairings would seem to be essential to me.
The Broncos opened the scoring on their first shot. It was a bit unfortunate as it bounced in off of Wes Vannieuwenhuizen in the blue-ice, but Tyler Morrison lost his man and allowed him to get the puck to the front of the net. It was a scoring chance that should not have been. The Broncos added another goal mid-period on breakdown in the Giants zone. A nice fore to back-hand deke saw it find it’s way past Payton Lee. The goal came on the Broncos third shot of the game. The Giants had some good chances in the opening frame, but could not get it past a quick Laurikainen. Their few mistakes in the opening frame led to goals against. Mid-second the Giants looked to be in disarray, but a quick turn-around and some pressure at the Broncos net, saw them finally get a rare rebound off of the Finnish ‘tender. Jackson Houck worked to get the shot on net and Riley Kieser standing on the open side got the tap-in off the rebound. The Broncos added a heart-breaker a few minutes later short-handed, when they were gifted (by a green referee) a penalty shot chance that simply was not. The call was wrong. It was a battle between players who had position; the player was not hauled down from behind. It was a penalty, but not a penalty shot – no-one who knows the rules would call it like that.
Team Notes: Flu still runs through the team and Ast and Sward were both throwing up between periods and didn’t play much in the latter stages.
Fisticuffs: none – but I would have loved to see some in this game. It was an emotionless game that was mostly boring.
Zebra Cage: Kevin Bennett and Fraser Lawrence. Not the best outing, mis-managed calls and some head-scratchers with regard to face-off placement. Late whistles and getting in the way of the play and then throw in a ref I have never heard of (Lawrence) making a penalty shot call on a play that everyone in the arena knew was not penalty-shot worthy and it gets ugly.
The Giants out shot the Broncos 29-25. The G’s went 0 for 3 on the PP, while the Broncos went 0 for 1. The G’s were playing around with the puck at the blue-line far too much for my liking and very slow to move/shoot the puck. By the time they took the chance the holes had been sealed and shot often blocked. The Broncos were very aggressive pressing the puck carrier and the G’s did not have much time to make plays, but when they did they seemed too slow. The puck support wavered in the game as the Giants scrambled to try to get back into it and was either a bunch of players who were too close or a lone player left to his own devices. The G’s still have a tough time with their breakout plays and could use some work on making passes easier and rush chances better. Not sure why Graham Black was chosen as a star, a token assist, a brief moment where he almost got into deep trouble challenging Kessy to a fight and not much else that I recall seeing that was note-worthy. I would have chosen former Giant Levi Bews with a goal and an assist and a solid game.
Up Next: The Giants have another shot to beat the Silvertips in Everett tomorrow night. I expect Liston will get the start with Lee back between the pipes on Sunday versus the not so dominant Blazers. The Kamloops squad has had an average record the past ten games after starting out almost unbeatable. The Giants had a close 6-5 game vs the Tips where they left points on the table at the end of the game and were embarrassed 4-0 the last time they went down south with a less than stellar effort. The puck drops in Everett at 7:05 PST on Saturday.
Three Stars:
1. Eetu Laurikainen
2. Jackson Houck
3. Graham Black
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to Jackson Houck – no Giant was really impactful in this game, but his work for the Giants only goal was worthy and he was noticeable throughout the game.
Broncos Ride Giants
Vancouver 1 Swift Current 3
After their convincing win in Victoria you would think that the Giants would bring some of that same effort back to Vancouver and they did. For about a period. Despite allowing two goals against in the first the Giants played their best game in the opening frame. They were doing what they did in Victoria, hustling, back-checking and tracking down opposing players in the offensive zone and stripping them of the puck. The Broncos checked better and closer than the Royals did though and the Giants were not given the kind of room they took in Wednesday’s game. In the latter frames though the Giants sagged and were once again that half-step behind. When they did manage to get some puck support for themselves and some good chances on net, Eetu Laurikainen was there to thwart them. The same kinds of sloppy play along the blue-line and inadvisable passes across the slot in the defensive zone added a bit of grief for the boys in this one. The boys had a lot of unfocused effort, but were in this game for the most part. I found Hay’s line-juggling to be disconcerting and the very effective line of Franson, Houck and Kessy split up more often than not. Starting Kieser between Houck and Kessy seemed to me to be counter-productive as you take away the only pure offensive player and add in another grinding player. Even defensive pairings were juggled and after so much inconsistency on this team this season some continuity of consistent lines and defensive pairings would seem to be essential to me.
The Broncos opened the scoring on their first shot. It was a bit unfortunate as it bounced in off of Wes Vannieuwenhuizen in the blue-ice, but Tyler Morrison lost his man and allowed him to get the puck to the front of the net. It was a scoring chance that should not have been. The Broncos added another goal mid-period on breakdown in the Giants zone. A nice fore to back-hand deke saw it find it’s way past Payton Lee. The goal came on the Broncos third shot of the game. The Giants had some good chances in the opening frame, but could not get it past a quick Laurikainen. Their few mistakes in the opening frame led to goals against. Mid-second the Giants looked to be in disarray, but a quick turn-around and some pressure at the Broncos net, saw them finally get a rare rebound off of the Finnish ‘tender. Jackson Houck worked to get the shot on net and Riley Kieser standing on the open side got the tap-in off the rebound. The Broncos added a heart-breaker a few minutes later short-handed, when they were gifted (by a green referee) a penalty shot chance that simply was not. The call was wrong. It was a battle between players who had position; the player was not hauled down from behind. It was a penalty, but not a penalty shot – no-one who knows the rules would call it like that.
Team Notes: Flu still runs through the team and Ast and Sward were both throwing up between periods and didn’t play much in the latter stages.
Fisticuffs: none – but I would have loved to see some in this game. It was an emotionless game that was mostly boring.
Zebra Cage: Kevin Bennett and Fraser Lawrence. Not the best outing, mis-managed calls and some head-scratchers with regard to face-off placement. Late whistles and getting in the way of the play and then throw in a ref I have never heard of (Lawrence) making a penalty shot call on a play that everyone in the arena knew was not penalty-shot worthy and it gets ugly.
The Giants out shot the Broncos 29-25. The G’s went 0 for 3 on the PP, while the Broncos went 0 for 1. The G’s were playing around with the puck at the blue-line far too much for my liking and very slow to move/shoot the puck. By the time they took the chance the holes had been sealed and shot often blocked. The Broncos were very aggressive pressing the puck carrier and the G’s did not have much time to make plays, but when they did they seemed too slow. The puck support wavered in the game as the Giants scrambled to try to get back into it and was either a bunch of players who were too close or a lone player left to his own devices. The G’s still have a tough time with their breakout plays and could use some work on making passes easier and rush chances better. Not sure why Graham Black was chosen as a star, a token assist, a brief moment where he almost got into deep trouble challenging Kessy to a fight and not much else that I recall seeing that was note-worthy. I would have chosen former Giant Levi Bews with a goal and an assist and a solid game.
Up Next: The Giants have another shot to beat the Silvertips in Everett tomorrow night. I expect Liston will get the start with Lee back between the pipes on Sunday versus the not so dominant Blazers. The Kamloops squad has had an average record the past ten games after starting out almost unbeatable. The Giants had a close 6-5 game vs the Tips where they left points on the table at the end of the game and were embarrassed 4-0 the last time they went down south with a less than stellar effort. The puck drops in Everett at 7:05 PST on Saturday.
Three Stars:
1. Eetu Laurikainen
2. Jackson Houck
3. Graham Black
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to Jackson Houck – no Giant was really impactful in this game, but his work for the Giants only goal was worthy and he was noticeable throughout the game.