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0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
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1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
I actually have a reason for making that stupid pun. Stay with me a minute, we’ll get to it.
I don’t really have any chronological thoughts tonight, so instead I’m just going to toss up a couple of thoughts and hope that we don’t have a Game 5 next Friday:
- Drew Owsley has now been pulled in back-to-back games, while Alexander Pechurskiy gave up just one goal in 36 minutes tonight. I think it’s safe to say that the ball is now in Pechurskiy’s hands the rest of the way, barring an equal level of fail from him on Tuesday night back in…Kennewick? Shit, I’ve never heard of that place. Anyway.
- Three Hitmen went down to injury tonight, though all three — Cody Beach, Brandon Kozun, and Del Cowan — ultimately returned. Busy night for the training staff. The hit on Kozun earned Brendan Shinnimin a game misconduct, and it was a vicious one from behind into the boards in front of the bench; it looked like Kozun’s head hit the top of the boards before he went down. Somehow, that little bugger just keeps getting back up. I fear the day he doesn’t; he might actually be dead when it happens.
- On the plus side, Kozun’s second assist of the night was on a beauty of a rush: his shot forced Pechurskiy to make a big save, and while he was out of position, Tyler Fiddler deposited the puck into the empty net.
- Congratulations to Peter Kosterman, who picked a heck of a time to score his first WHL goal. It proved to be the game-winner, though I tend not to put as much stock into game winners when they come early in the second. I’m sure he doesn’t give a crap, because he scored in the WHL final.
- The Hitmen got into penalty trouble a couple of times during the game, but not only did Jones come through when he had to, but Ian Schultz continues to be an absolute penalty-killing beast in these playoffs. Shot-blocking? Lane closure? Eating the puck along the wall? Shorthanded breakaway? Got ya covered every way.
- Speaking of the PK, Kozun blocked a shot tonight on the PK. This is significant because I don’t recall him doing that terribly often, and also because he did it in the dreaded Flamingo, which I always hate, because it seldom works, and usually screens/tips more than it helps. It worked, but…yeesh.
- PP? Not so great. 0/4, including a pair of five-on-threes and the fiver to Shinnimin. Then again, teams always look bad on major PPs, in my experience, because of how long they have to possibly score. Because of where the onus is on those penalties, i.e. far more on the PK, I think it tends to elevate the PK’s play and depress the PP’s play. It’s an odd phenomenon, and it may be entirely observational, i.e. not borne out by the stats, but it definitely played out tonight. Very disorganized whenever Kozun wasn’t directing traffic.
- The Americans (I refuse to say “Ams”) finally broke Jones’s spell over them with a second-period goal, breaking his personal shutout streak of 144:34 against them this season. Johnny Lazo got the puck in close, outwaited Jones, and shelved it to make the score 3-1 early in the second, mere seconds after Owsley got the hook.
Games 3 and 4 go Tuesday and Wednesday in that city I’ve never heard of. Let’s hope they don’t come back to Calgary for Game 5 on Friday. Go Hitmen.
