Sunday, March 18, 2012

GAME 2: Wings 2 @ Mils 0 (Series tied 1-1)

A stalled zamboni and a large hole in the ice led to a one hour, 45 minute delay, and anyone aside from the Weyburn Red Wings and their fans are probably wishing they decided to play Game 2 of the Sherwood Conference Final on Sunday.

The puck dropped at about 9:15, and the Melville Millionaires followed up a 7-1 rout of Weyburn on Friday, with a 2-0 loss in front of their home fans on Saturday.

They managed just 5 shots in each of the first and second periods, had some chances late, but couldn't beat Mitch Kilgore, who stopped 22 shots for the shutout, one night after he was hooked 24 minutes into the series opener.

Miguel Pereira and Jordon Hoffman both scored, and set up each other, while the top line on each club was held off the score sheet.

Coach Jamie Fiesel called their powerplay "unwatchable", as the Mils went 0/7, after a 4/8 showing in Game 1. The Wings also went 0/7, and they're now 0/13 in the series, and 1/26 in the playoffs.

I'm not sure how else to put it, and maybe it was because of our 15 minute Pre Game Show being extended to two hours... but it was a stinker! Very hard to get into. Lots of penalties both ways (and a combined 0/14 on the PP) so very little flow. The Mils couldn't get much of anything going offensively, took some ill-advised penalties, and their powerplay was much like Feez described it.

Just like Game 1 though, Game 2 was "just one game," although you can't help but think the Mils let a great opportunity slip away after stealing Game 1 on the road.

Blake Voth was their bright spot, stopping 35/37 shots, and has himself a .954% in the series.

So far the top two scoring lines in the SJHL's regular season have hardly been factors. Mireau/McNulty/Trudeau have combined for one point (McNulty goal in Game 1), while Bruce/Sanderson/Ross have one goal (Bruce Game 1).

Game 3 goes Monday night in Weyburn. Pre Game Show (hopefully only 15 minutes long this time!) starts at 7:15.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If the power play was so terrible why didn't Fiesel change it up and let some "secondary" lines take the role!

Anonymous said...

Exactly!!! Quit rewarding our so called "A" line up with more ice time, if there not earning it. Give those young guys a chance.

Anonymous said...

Once the players decided to actually play hockey instead of try to rough each other up, the game was alright to watch.

Anonymous said...

Maybe roll all four lines and try and ramp up the tempo. Playing top line majority of the time wears them out and they have nothing in the tank when you need them. Time to start coaching smart and not out of desperation!

Craig Stein said...

I don't think they were desperate up 1-0 in the series. And the DO roll 4 lines at even strength, there were just so many PPs and PKs that not everyone got a regular shift.

Anonymous said...

It was just a crappy night, stuff like the zamboni happen and it was good they got the game in as crappy a game as it was for both teams. Pretty hard to watch though the delay made for an awful game Craig you must have had quite the time filling up all that empty air time