There were highs and lows to tonight’s game, but overall I am not terribly disappointed with the loss. I was hoping that Telly would start as Bryz’s stats against the Oilers are not that great and it would give him plenty of time to rest up for the Red Wings. I was also hoping that Gretzky would keep the lines together and at least he did that.
The game started off great with Yandle scoring thanks to the work of the Carcillo-KT-Stevie G line. This line played extremely well at Calgary and Edmonton.
After that the Oilers go on a tear and score three times before the end of the first. We head into the second 3-1 Oilers and I am thinking we are doomed.
In the second Carcillo and Mueller score to tie it but we can’t hold on to the sippery Oilers. They score once in the second to pull ahead 4-3.
Carcillo gets into a fight. The boys take their helmets off before it begains and the linesmen stand within about 2 feet of them. Carcillo gets in a couple of great hits before they wrestle to the ice. I’d say the fight was pretty much a draw, maybe the Oiler taking the win.
The Oilers score in the third to make it 5-3. The Oilers also score on an empty net to make it 6-3 final. The forwards were out there working their bums off but just couldn’t make it happen.
At one point in the third, there was a big pile up because the Oilers thought Stevie G had a bad hit on their player. In reality the Oiler lost his edge, fell and made it look like Stevie G hit him. The Oilers lucked out and didn’t even get a roughing penalty on this even though they totally jumped Stevie G and went after Yandle. The Oilers lucked out several times as the refs didn’t call much on them, even though they were taking liberties with our guys. That’s just the way the Zebras roll at times.
In some ways, this was very similar to the Minnesota game at the start of the roadtrip. Both games we battle back to tie (or close) and then end up losing 6-3. it’s showing signs of progress that we are battling back instead of giving up, like we used to.
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I was reading some comments on Azcentral (I don’t know why I torture myself…) and someone had the balls to say that Rhino is MIA. What team has he been watching? Obviously not the Coyotes, which might explain why he thinks Rhino is MIA. Rhino may not have the points, but he has been one of the few vets that continues to work his butt off game in and game out. He’s getting pucks to the net, he’s getting his body to the net, he’s fighting in corners and he’s making things happen Lets look at his stats… 45 games, 9 goals, 16 assists, 25 points, +8, 12 PIM, 2 game winners and 56 shots. Oh yah, he is definitely MIA. This is why I love Rhino, he flies under the radar. He is underrated. He makes things look pretty and easy, even when he is battling through two opposing players.
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Tuesday night the yotes are going to rock the house and the wings. That is all I am going to say about that.
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In other sports, the Cards defeated the Eagles and are going to the Superbowl!! Way to go Cards! At the start of the season, I never thought they would make the Superbowl. This will be their first appearence in the ‘bowl. Let’s Go Cards!!
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