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AHL Game Day 3/8: Admirals at Penguins

Submitted by pete on March 8, 2009 - 20:45

Tired Admirals get stomped on the road.

NOR-1
WBS-4

Riku Helenius allowed 3 goals on 12 shots for the loss before being pulled for Craig Kowalski who allowed 1 goal on 21 shots the rest of the way.

First Period
WBS Letestu, (17) (James, Taffe), 8:36 (PP)
WBS Letestu, (18) (Jeffrey, Taffe), 12:37 (PP)
WBS Minard, (29) (James, Goligoski), 17:17 (PP)

Second Period
WBS Jeffrey, (8) (Bissonnette), 12:09

Third Period
NOR Bochenski, (25) (Keller, Konopka), 19:59 (PP)

Blair Jones' goal scoring streak is snapped at three games.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

N.A. Juniors Game Night: 3/7

Submitted by chad on March 8, 2009 - 13:04

Grizzlies even series ... Tokarski back in the W column ... Vancouver loses a close one ... Tri-City loses a not-so-close one.

NCAA Game Night: 3/7

Submitted by Nigel on March 8, 2009 - 11:08

Harvard can't score against last place team in conference, season done ... Vermont sees No. 3 seed slip away in OT ... Wessbecker scores 1st in UMASS rout

NHL Game Night 3/7: Hurricanes at Lightning

Submitted by pete on March 7, 2009 - 22:37

The worst 40 minutes of hockey in Lightning history.

CAR-9
TB-3

Mike McKenna allowed 3 goals on 7 shots before being pulled for Karri Ramo. Ramo was then the beneficiary of some of the worst defense in the NHL and allowed 6 goals on 22 shots (and took the back door loss to boot) before being pulled at the end of the Second Period. McKenna stopped all 8 shots he faced the rest of the way. Honestly, there was only 1 questionable goal in the lot (by Ramo, on a shot that deflected off Stamkos' stick and through his five hole). Other than that, all of the other eight goals were quality goals that were either odd man rushes or terrible defensive zone breakdowns.

First Period
07:01 CAR Staal (29), (Brind'Amour)(SH)
09:40 CAR Staal (30), (Cole, Ruutu)
10:09 CAR Babchuk (9), (Pitkanen)
12:43 TB St. Louis (24), (Stamkos, Szczechura)

Second Period
02:41 CAR Corvo (12), (Cole, Staal)
03:48 CAR Brind'Amour (9), (Samsonov (25), Cullen)(PP)
06:03 CAR Ruutu (18), (Samsonov, Corvo)(PP)
12:48 CAR Staal (31), (Larose, Ruutu)
16:45 CAR Staal (32), (Ruutu, Cole)

Third Period
3:30 TB Lecavalier (28), (Malone, Prospal)
9:12 TB Malone (23), (Prospal, Lecavalier)

Here's an FYI to Len Barrie and Oren Koules: Lightning Nation is pissed off. They're more than a bit peeved by the fact that they have to watch a defense comprised of two cast offs who couldn't even get regular ice time for the Florida Panthers, a cast off who couldn't even get out of the minors for the Carolina Hurricanes, a goon who shouldn't even be playing defense in the NHL, Charminy soft Lukas Krajicek, and Matt Smaby, who is the one guy in the bunch who doesn't deserve to be shot, stuffed, and mounted on the wall at the Bear Mountain Resort. This defense is a disgrace, and it's patently obvious that the season is being tanked from the blueline out. When the lone silver lining is, "Oh, well we picked up two points on the Isles in the Tavares/Hedman derby," that's just not acceptable. Honest to goodness, if you're going to ice a corps that bad, why not just call up Vladimir Mihalik and Ty Wishart? I'd rather give minutes to the kids than a has-been and some never-will-bes.

Noah Welch was -2 with 1 shot, 1 hit, and 2 blocked shots in an obscene 27:22 of ice time tonight. He and Cory Murphy's first period should be a warning to pregnant women of what happens if you drink while you're carrying your child. How does a guy who couldn't even get in the lineup for Florida end up here playing 27:22 two games later? I can't figure out if this movie is a comedy or a tragedy, boys and girls.

Smaby was +1 with 2 shots, 3 hits, and 2 blocked shots in 16:49. I'm kind of surprised that his ice time was so low because he was very visible in the physical game. That said, even he made his fair share of mildly stupid plays tonight.

David Koci was -2 with 4 penalty minutes and 1 hit in 11:59. If David Koci is an NHL defenseman then I'm an international playboy.

Paul Szczechura had an assist and 2 penalty minutes with 3 shots, 3 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 11:30. I haven't really been impressed with Paul since he came back from his injury, but he showed flashes again tonight, especially in garbage time in the third period.

Martins Karsums was -1 with 1 shot and 1 blocked shot in 11:27. Chad made the point on the message boards that, athletically, he's reminiscent of Ruslan Fedotenko. That's true, but unlike Fedotenko, Karsums is terrible along the wall. I don't think it's lack of want to and he seems sturdy on his skates. He just seems clueless about his body position. Oh, and he made a nice fat turnover that ended up in the back of the net on Anton Babchuk's goal. From Latvia to Russia with love.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

AHL Game Night 3/7: Devils at Admirals

Submitted by pete on March 7, 2009 - 21:49

Ahhhh, so that's what a team playing like it has some pride looks like.

LOW-1
NOR-2

Riku Helenius allowed just 1 goal on 27 shots for the win to even his season record at 7-7-0. His .934 save percentage is gaudy.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
NOR Jones, (16) (Konopka, Lundin), 2:23 (PP)
LOW Bergfors, (16) (Magnan), 12:18
NOR Keller, (14) (Jones, Potulny), 17:06 (PP)

Third Period
NO SCORING

Blair Jones, Helenius, and Justin Keller were the game's three stars.

Jones has 5 goals and 6 points over the past 3 games and over the past 10 games he has 6 goals and 12 points. Keller is now 1 goal shy of his AHL career best and over the past 18 games he has 9 goals and 18 points. Both players are in the final years of their entry level deals and are playing to prove they have some sort of future in the organization. Lately, they've played well enough that, in my mind, they've earned a few games at the NHL level to show management what they can do against the big boys. Jones, in particular, is a guy who I think can compete at the next level if he approaches the game the right way.

The Admirals move back to 4 games under .500 for the season.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Harju, Lulea Fall to Frolunda in Game Two

Submitted by pete on March 7, 2009 - 12:44

Johan Harju had a power play goal, but it was not enough, as Lulea fell to Frolunda 4-2 in Game Two of their opening round playoff series. The series is now knotted at 1-1. Lulea was outshot 38-17 in the game. Janne Niskala was scoreless in the match for Frolunda.

Game Three is slated for Monday.

NCAA Game Night: 3/6

Submitted by Nigel on March 7, 2009 - 11:51

ECAC Tournament underway...Vermont picks up big win...UMASS drops a close one in OT

N.A. Juniors Game Night: 3/6

Submitted by chad on March 7, 2009 - 11:07

Victoria drops Game 1 ... Unlikely First Star in the Q ... Luca scores to help Rimouski to win No.17 in a row ... Tokarski and Chiefs fall in the standings ... Oil Kings hanging on.

NHL Game Night 3/6: Blues at Lightning

Submitted by pete on March 6, 2009 - 22:21

One point further away from Tavares or Hedman?

STL-4
TB-3 (OT)

Karri Ramo allowed 4 goals on 36 shots for the overtime loss. His rebound control needs work, but he was fairly sharp in this one.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
05:43 STL Tkachuk (19), (Boyes, McDonald)
09:25 STL McDonald (10), (Backes, Boyes)(PP)

Third Period
03:28 TB St. Louis (23), (Lecavalier, Stamkos)
06:10 STL Backes (19), (Oshie, McDonald)
12:10 TB Pettinger (3), (Halpern, Artyukhin)
19:44 TB Stamkos (14), (Murphy, St. Louis)

Overtime
00:27 STL Boyes (26), (Colaiacovo, McDonald)

Noah Welch was -1 with 2 penalty minutes, 1 shot, 4 hits, and 2 blocked shots in 23:06. He's servicable, if unspectacular.

Matt Smaby was -1 with 1 shot, 5 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 23:23. He took a skate to the cheek and hardly missed a shift. You can make a very strong case that he's been the team's best d-man over the last month.

David Koci had 1 hit in 6:52.

Martins Karsums was -1 with 2 shots, 2 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 10:59. You can see the attraction from the Lightning's end: he's a good skater with decent burst and feisty for an average sized player.

Brandon Segal had 2 shots and 3 hits in 12:50. He had some good moments tonight on the forecheck but shanked a rebound off a Karsums shot that should've been his first NHL goal.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

AHL Game Night 3/6: Devils at Admirals

Submitted by pete on March 6, 2009 - 21:51

Devils can't keep up with the Joneses.

LOW-1
NOR-4

Riku Helenius allowed just 1 goal on 32 shots for the win. He improves his record to 6-7-0 on the season with a 2.27 GAA, 1 shutout, and a .932 save percentage.

First Period
NOR Jones, (14) (Boyle), 7:16
LOW Vasyunov, (12) (Eckford), 17:42

Second Period
NOR Keller, (13) (Henley, Konopka), 7:27
NOR Jones, (15) (Smolenak, Hooton), 15:56

Third Period
NOR Lundin, (4) (Simek, Quick), 2:15

Blair Jones, Helenius, and Mike Lundin were named the game's three stars.

Jones sets new career highs in goals (15) and points (43) in 12 less games than he played in his previous career season last year. He has 4 goals in his last 2 games and he and Juraj Simek appear to be the beneficiaries of the recent callups and injuries that have redistributed ice time.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

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