Buc Loss Ends Division Champion Hopes
Urbandale, IA (3.30.02): Tonight's game was important for Omaha and Des Moines. A Omaha win would give the Lancers the number 1 seed in the Clark Cup playoffs; a Buc win would keep the Buc's hopes alive for an Eastern Division championship. It was close for about 15 minutes before the Lancers took control and ran the score up to 3-0 before the first period was over. The Bucs looked ragged and out of position for the rest of the game. The lone Buc goal and assist came in the third period from new Buccaneers Keith Boyer and Tom Kolar. Both Keith and Tom have been playing extremely well in the last several games, racking up the points.
Former Buccaneer Ryan Bennett scored 2 goals for the Lancers. I really respect Coach Ferguson for trading Ryan to Omaha so that he could be closer to UNO, where he is taking classes and will be playing next year. That is what Buc hockey is about - doing the right thing to advance the players to the next level.
In an interview after the game, Coach Ferguson apologized to the fans for the way the Bucs played. He also gave credit to the Lancers: "I want to give credit to Omaha. After seeing them play last night it is obvious why they are the number one team. They have great goaltenders, and the team makes it easy for them, blocking all the shooting lanes and stopping shots before they get on net"
The Buccaneers have two games remaining, Rochester and the final home game of the regular season against Lincoln. The Bucs will likely be seeded 6th or 7th in the playoffs.
Written by Steve Bendy
Box Score
First Period Scoring Beats Chicago
Urbandale, IA (3.29.02): The Buccaneers got 4 first period goals from Alex Matieroukine, Chris Collins, Keith Boyer and Luke Irwin, and ended up with a 7-4 victory of the Chicago Steel. The win kept the Bucs 3 points ahead of Chicago in the standings, and within 4 points of first place Cedar Rapids. The Bucs must finish ahead of Cedar Rapids - a tie in points will favor Cedar Rapids as they have a better win-loss record against the Bucs this season. The Bucs have only three games remaining, so it will be difficult to catch them. The Bucs could do it, especially the way they played tonight.
The Bucs came out fast and kept pressure on Chicago from the very first drop of the puck. Both teams raced up and down the ice without a stop in play for 5 minutes. Nine minutes into the period, a wide-open Alex Matieroukine took a pass from Jeff Genovy and waited for the goalie to make a move. When he did he shot the puck into the back of the net to make it 1-0. As usual, Chris Collins was giving it 100%, and 12:09 into the period it paid off. Alex Matieroukine fed him with a perfect pass and Chris was all alone skating toward the goalie. The red light came on and it was 2-0. The Bucs then scored two goals less than 30 seconds apart to make it 4-0. Keith Boyer and Luke Irwin did the damage. In an interview after the game, coach Ferguson said that Luke Irwin had played one of his best games all season. In addition to scoring a goal, Luke made several key defensive plays to keep Chicago from scoring.
Chicago scored six minutes into the second period to make it 5-1, but the Bucs came back less than a minute later when Tom Kolar scored off of a great pass from Erik Johnson. The Bucs were leading 6-1, and were in complete control. Chicago mounted a come-back, scoring the next three goals to make it 6-4. Even so, it never seemed that the Bucs were in trouble. As the clock ticked down, Chicago pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. However, the last goal of the game was by Chris Collins when he was able to get by the defenders and hit the empty-net.
Written by Steve Bendy
Box Score
Comeback Ends in Third Period
Urbandale, IA (3.23.02): After playing such a complete game last night, the Bucs came out flat and quickly found themselves down by three goals at the end of the first period. The packed arena was stunned as the Bucs skated to the locker room.
When the puck was dropped at the start of the seconf period, the Bucs were playin with a new attitude. Two and a half minutes into the second period, hard-working Chris Collins picked up a power-play goal to make the score 3-1. Midway through the period Keith Boyer muscled his way toward the goal and surprised the goalie with a quick shot that nearly ripped the back of the net out. the Bucs were back in the game. Less than 4 minutes later Andrew Leach came blasting over the blue line with the D all over him. He dropped the puck behind him and Luke Irwin blasted a shot in the net to tie the game at 3 each. When the Bucs skated off the ice, the crowd roared their approval.
The Bucs came out hard at the start of the third period, but two minutes into the period the Bucs were called for a penalty. Sioux Falls coughed up the puck and the Bucs almost scored a short-handed goal. Instead, Sioux Falls scored a power-play goal as the penalty was just about to expire. Forty seconds later they scored again, and the goal seemed to take everything out of the Bucs. The Bucs were not able to mount much of an attack the rest of the game and Sioux Falls won, 6-3.
Written by Steve Bendy
Box Score
Ferguson Gets Win Number 200
Urbandale, IA (3.22.02): Coach Bob Ferguson picked up win number 200 as a Buccaneer, and Ellis Moose got win number 350 as president of the Buccaneers. According to coach Ferguson, the 3-0 win over the USA-Under 18 team was one of the most complete games the Bucs played all season.
The period began with USA putting sustained pressure on goalie Chris Gartman. Chris had to come up big to keep the Bucs from getting behind early. He did a great job of scooping up the rebounds, not allowing USA to get second chances. The Bucs were able to reagain control midway through the period and apply pressure of their own. Team USA is good, and you could tell by the way they played their positions and handled the puck. The Bucs looked a bit ragged in comparison, but were playing with a lot more emotion. The period ended with USA outshooting the Bucs 10-9.
The second period the Bucs were really skating hard and USA was called for a penalty 2 minutes into the period. The Buccaneers made them pay as Chris Collins too a laser-guided pass from Michael Hutchins. His tip bounced off of Howard, the goalie. Chris picked up the rebound and put it into the net. In the picture you can see the puck hitting the back of the net. Also, I was able to catch the entire play, and is available as a movie here. His power-play goal was scored at 3:21.
Team USA doubled their effort and if it were not for the defense cutting down on quality shots, and Gartman making the tough saves, the period would not have ended as it did. As it was, team USA outshot the Bucs 14-8.
The third period the Bucs continued their determined play and Tommy Kolar scored a beauty seven minutes into the perid. Erik Johnson knocked the puck loose and raced down the ice. Kolar put on the jets and came down the other side of the ice. Erik's passed at the last minute and Kolar tipped it in the open net to make it 2-0. Keith Boyer added a third goal 3 minutes later, assisted by Hansen and Johnson. The fans began to harass the USA goalie as time wound down. USA did not even try to pull their goalie to get the goose-egg off. The Bucs had beaten Team USA 3-0 and Chris Gartman had picked up his third shutout of the season.
Written by Steve Bendy
Box Score
Bucs keep it close for 50 minutes, but Lincoln is able to capitalize on defensive lapses of the Bucs and win 4-1.
Lincoln, NE (3.19.02): Pre-game: Tonight we face the Lincoln Stars for the third time this season. Currently we are 1-1-0 vs. the Stars. Each game, the home team as won. On October 20th the Bucs won 6-4 in Des Moines. On November 9th in Lincoln, the Stars won 4-2. Currently the Bucs are on a season long four game losing streak. We hope they can change their ways tonight in the Ice Box. Lincoln is currently one of the hottest teams in the USHL. Lincoln is basically fighting for 3rd seed, while the Bucs are shooting for the Eastern Division lead. We are currently trailing the Cedar Rapids Roughriders by 4 points, but we have played two less games so far.
Paulette Taylor put together another bus trip to Lincoln this time. There are 34 of us making the journey west on I-80. Hopefully this bus will not run out of gas and we head back east on I-80 with the “w’”.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
Starting goalies: Gartman (DM), Lamoureux (LI)
1st Period: Goaltending was the name of the game the first period. Both Phillippe Lamoureux and Chris Gartman both made great saves to keep the first period end with 0-0. Neither team was able to establish much offense.
2nd Period: Goaltending and defense continued to dominate the period until midway through Lincoln was able to tic-tac-doe and Mike Fournier found the back of the net to take the 1-0 lead. Defense and goaltending finished the period to keep it 1-0 Stars favor.
3rd Period: Bucs have several chances but were denied until about the 13[-minute mark when Tommy Kolar came in on a semi-break and tied the game 1-1 with an assist to Evan Stoflet. Around the 9-minute mark, a defensive lapse and Lincoln makes a quick centering pass and takes a 2-1 lead. Approximately the 6-minute another quick center pass by Lincoln gives them the 3-1 lead. The Stars turn up the defensive pressure and the Bucs had troubles breaking out. The game ends with Lincoln scoring an empty-netter to make it a 4-1.
Written by Kevin Kasel
Muskies win and the division lead keeps getting farther and farther away from the Bucs!
Sioux City, IA (3.16.02): Pre-game: First off, I will ramble about the USHL play-offs. The Anderson Cup champion will come from the Western Division. Cedar Rapids and Des Moines both can only achieve 79 points for the season and Green Bay can only max at 76 points. Currently, Omaha as 83 points in the race for the Anderson Cup and only Sioux City (74 points/92 points max), Lincoln (69 points/91 points max) and Sioux Falls (68 points/86 points max) can catch the Lancers. The Anderson Cup is the only trophy that has eluded Mike Hastings has a head coach in Omaha. Last season Coach Hastings won his first Gold Cup as a head coach with the Lancers. Coach Hastings as won the Triple Crown as a player with the 1986-87 Rochester Mustangs.
Omaha, Sioux City, Lincoln, Sioux Falls and Cedar Rapids have already clinched a play-off spot. Rochester, Tulsa and Waterloo have been eliminated from play-offs. 3 more points by the Buccaneers and we clinch a spot. A Buccaneer and Crude win tonight and we can clinch a spot. Tri-City is currently the 9th seed and the magic number for clinching is 66 points (the max Tri-City can get this season as of March 15, 2002). Des Moines, Green Bay, Chicago, Tri-City and Topeka are still battling for the remaining top eight spots.
(Standings as of March 15, 2002)
Let’s see if tonight we can break that trend and have the visiting win the game. One key to winning this game is to stay out of the box. No team in the Eastern division has fewer than 1000 PIMs. Our penalty kill has been sliding down the charts since the beginning of the season. We are currently 10th in PK with an 80.66%. In the last six games, the Bucs were able to kill off 29 of the 40 penalties (72.50%). Our power play is still in 1st place clicking at 19.60%. Omaha is on our heels with a 19.50% power play unit. We need to become better at our special teams, or this season will end sooner then we would like.
Starting goalies: Gartman (DM), Mayotte (SC)
1st Period: Early on Bucs get a couple shots on net, but Kris Mayotte keeps the puck out of the net. About two minutes in, Sioux City has a scoring chance that Chris Gartman is able to answer the call. At 3:09 mark Jesse Modahl gives the Muskies the 1-0 lead with an assist to Clayton LaBrosse. Shortly after, Michael Hutchins gets whistled for roughing at 3:28 point. During the penalty-kill Alex Matieroukine, as a breakaway, but Mayotte makes the save. Soon after the penalty kill ended, Sioux City’s Jeff Adduono makes it 2-0 with a helper from Mike Ramirez. Around the 9-minute mark, Sioux City’s Brandon Polich gets called for double-minor high sticking call. Sioux City is able to kill the penalty. At 12:25, Adduono gets called for slashing to give the Bucs another power play opportunity. The Bucs are unable to convert on the power play. Then at 18:25, Weston Tardy goes to the sin bin for hooking. The period ends 2-0 Sioux City favor. Sioux City out-shot the Bucs 14-10 in the period.
2nd Period: The Bucs are able to kill off the remainder of Tardy’s penalty to start of the period. The Bucs are able to start cycling the puck and get some scoring chances. But Mayotte is able to keep the puck out of the net. Matieroukine and BJ Greaves get sent to the penalty box at 7:46 mark, Greaves gets a roughing and cross checking, while Matieroukine gets slashing, so the Bucs have another power play opportunity. The Muskies are able to kill off this penalty as well. At 10:30 mark Nathan Schwatzbauer gets called for slashing. At 10:47 mark Jeff Genovy tips in the shot from the point with assists to Tardy and Chris Collins to cut the lead in half 2-1. At 11:03 Matieroukine goes to the box for interference. Near the end of penalty, Sioux City players, the goal judge, Rob Lettington and Brad Oistad all thought Sioux City got a goal. But the person that matters the most, Travis Smith (tonight’s referee) said “no goal”. This keeps it 2-1 Sioux City favor. 14:37 point Sean Kotary goes to the sin bin for high sticking. Bucs are able to kill off this penalty, but Kotary is going right back in, as he came out he gets whistled AGAIN, this time for checking from behind. At 18:29 Mike Ramirez gets a power play goal to give the Muskies the 3-1 lead. 19:34 Greaves from Ryan Stattner makes it 4-1. At 19:57 Matieroukine and Greaves get into a fight and Greaves gets the better of Matieroukine. Irwin and a Muskie were tied up. Out of this whole mess, Matieroukine gets 5 for fighting, Irwin, 2+10. Sioux City’s Greaves gets 2 for instigating, 5 for fighting and game ejection. The Bucs have another power play opportunity. Muskies take the 4-1 lead into the locker room.
3rd Period: Sioux City kills off the penalty. Soon after they kill it off, Arthur Femenella goes off 2-minutes for charging. Sioux City is able to kill off the penalty. At 4:46 LaBrosse makes it 5-1 with assist to Modahl. I will stop writing and just give you the final. Sioux City wins 6-2.
Written by Kevin Kasel
Box Score
Losing Streak Continues
Urbandale, IA (3.15.02): If you listened carefully Friday night, you could almost hear the cheers from the boy's state basketball championship in downtown Des Moines. You certainly had ample time to concentrate on listening as the Bucs left fans little to cheer about. As coach Bob Ferguson said in a post-game interview, there were no excuses - they just got beat in every aspect of 
the game. Their should have been no trouble getting motivated to play. The importance of the game was obvious; a Buc win would get the Bucs closer to a share of the Eastern Division lead. For Waterloo, it was about pride; they are not going to make the playoffs. The score at the end of the game said it all: Waterloo 6, Bucs 2.
The loss was the third in a row for the Bucs, coming periously close to losing streaks of 4 posted by teams under coach Tom Carroll in the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons. The Bucs have not lost 5 in a row for over 10 years.
Tonight's game may set a new record: A win means win number 200 for coach Bob Ferguson with the Buccaneer organization and number 350 for Ellis Moose as president.
Game Notes: Congratulations to Tom Kolar who scored his first goal as a Buccaneer. Tom just joined the Bucs from his high school team and is playing extremely well. In the picture above, the puck squirts loose and is jammed into the net seconds later by a lone Waterloo attacker.
Written by Steve Bendy
Box Score
Bucs Spend Most of the Game in the Penalty Box and Gamblers Make Them Pay
Green Bay, WI (3.10.02): This afternoon (2:05 PM) we face the Green Bay Gamblers in Green Bay. We just faced the Gamblers just 16 hours ago here in Urbandale, IA. Green Bay won last night 5-3 in a very physical battle.
Currently the Bucs hold the season series record of 3-2-0 for 6 points with 22 goals for and 12 goals against vs. Green Bay. The home/away breaks down like this: (Home) 2-1-0 4 points, 10 goals for and 6 goals against; (Away) 1-1-0 2 points, 12 goals for and 6 goals against.
Bucs will be short-handed two players: (#15) Sean Kotary, illness and (#21) Tommy Kolar. Kolar is the newest addition to the Buccaneers is at a banquet today at the Minnesota State Hockey tournament and is nominated for “player of the year” award in Minnesota high school.
Last night Tulsa and Rochester were eliminated from the USHL play-offs. Currently, Omaha, Sioux City and Sioux Falls have clinched play-off berths. Cedar Rapids and Lincoln are both a half game away from clinching (either a win by themselves or a loss by Tri-City). Des Moines is 1.5 away from clinching, while Green Bay is 3.5 away from clinching a play-off spot.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
Starting goalies: Brown (DM), Pfligler (GB)
1st Period: Early on both teams start out slow. About three-half minutes into the period, Jeff Genovy gets called for slashing and Green Bay cashes in on the power play. Goal by Matt Johnson with assists to Tim Stapleton and Joey Crabb at the 5:23 mark to give the Gamblers the early 1-0 lead. At 6:11 Keith Boyer gets whistled for a minor and the Bucs go on the penalty kill again. The Bucs are able to kill off this penalty. Soon after the penalty ends, Andrew Leach has a breakaway, but Eric Pfligler is able to stop the shot to keep the 1-0 lead. At 14:26 Michael Hutchins goes off for slashing to give the Gamblers their 3rd power play opportunity. The power play opportunity last 0:08 seconds has Joey Crabb gets called for high-sticking to nullify the power play and we skate 4-aside. Both penalties expire with no goals scored. The Bucs get another chance on the power play has Crabb gets called for tripping at the 18:35 mark. The Bucs are able to get some shots, but no goal. The period ends 1-0 Gamblers.
2nd Period: The Bucs start off the period for 0:35 seconds on the power play, Green Bay is able to kill off the penalty, but at 0:41 seconds Weston Tardy gets a goal to tie it up 1-1 with assists to Alex Matieroukine and Chris Collins. At 2:14 mark Justin Nikle is whistled for checking from behind. As the penalty ends, Nikle and Matieroukine come in 2-on-2 and there is a question on whether the puck crossed the line. They ruled, “frozen puck, no goal”. Bucs go back on the power play at the 6:18 has Nate Guenin is called 2-minutes for elbowing. The Bucs are unable to get a goal on the power play. Bucs go back on the power play as AJ Degenhardt is called for holding at 9:13. Once again, the Bucs are unable to convert. Soon after the penalty ends, Matieroukine goes to the box to give the Gamblers the power play. The Bucs kill off the penalty to keep things at 1 a piece. Then a “full-line brawl” breaks out at 14:13 mark. Jake Taylor-Genovy; unknown Gambler player-Collins; Brett Coburn-Luke Irwin and another unknown Gambler player-Nate Hansen. The original scuffle was Matieroukine was pushing and shoving with a Gambler that started this whole ruckus. Genovy and Irwin are sent to the locker room. Taylor and Brett Coburn are gone for the Gamblers. All four of these players receive “GAME MISCONDUCTS”. There are a lot of penalties handed out. Too many to list, Collins, Matieroukine and Nate Hansen all got 2+10. Then at 16:31 Andrew Leach gets called for tripping. Then on the ensuing face-off, Erik Johnson grabs a Gambler and pulls down a Gambler. Then Gamblers work on a 1:52 of 5-on-3 power play. At the 18:19 mark the Gamblers reclaim the lead on the 2-man advantage power play, 2-1. The period ends 2-1 Gambler favor.
3rd Period: Bucs start out with several players still serving their penalties. At the 3:53 mark, Adam Burish gets whistled for high-sticking. At the 5:19 mark, Leach is whistled for high-sticking and we skate 4 a side. Michael Hutchins is whistled for elbowing and gives the Gamblers 5-on-3 advantage. The Bucs are able to kill of both penalties and now have the serves of Matieroukine, again. The others are back as well. The Bucs get a power play. The power play is short lived as Matieroukine goes back to the box for high-sticking at 11:49. About midway point Degenhardt is able to give the Gamblers the 3-1 lead. Then a few seconds later Degenhardt goes to the box and gives the Bucs another power play. The Bucs are unable to convert and are currently 0 for 7 on the power play. At the 13:39 mark Burish and Leach go off for offsetting penalties as tempers flare. Bucs take yet ANOTHER penalty to make it nearly impossible to get the game tied up. Hutchins goes off at the 18:23 mark for elbowing. Game ends 3-1 Gamblers. Bucs miss yet another chance to catch the Cedar Rapids Roughriders for the division lead. For the third straight night, the Bucs are out shot: 43-34.
Written by Kevin Kasel
Slow Start Results in Buc Loss
Urbandale, IA (3.9.02): Despite the importance of tonights game, the Buccaneers came out flat and Green Bay capitalized by taking a 2-0 first period lead. The Gamblers never trailed as they outworked the Bucs and went on to a 5-3 win. The win brought Green Bay closer to the Bucs in the standings; instead of the Bucs catching Cedar Rapids, Green bay gained ground.
Genovy (Collins, Irwin), Collins, and Bouchard scored for the Bucs.
Bucs Avenge Loss, Close In On Division Lead
Urbandale. IA (3.8.02): The Buccaneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period, then held off a third period Waterloo assault to take a 4-1 victory. The win brought the Bucs within 2 points of division leader Cedar Rapids. Since the Bucs have played 4 less games than Cedar Rapids, the Bucs are in an excellent position to take the lead, and the number 2 seed in the Clark Cup playoffs. Lisa has written a nice article for the Register and is available online.
The Clark Cup playoffs will be in the best-of-five format with round 1 beginning April 9. Round 2 is slated to begin April 22, with round 3 set for May 3-12. If you are a "Tier 1" season ticket holder you already have tickets for these games. Tickets for the playoffs go on sale as soon as we are guaranteed a playoff position. Watch the website for more information.
The Bucs would also like to welcome Tommy Kolar to the lineup. Tommy is from Duluth, Minnesota and was on the protected list and played in the evaluation camp last fall.
In an interview at Victor's Thursday night, Coach Ferguson said that the Bucs needed to jump out to an early lead, and the team did just that. The Buc's put pressure on Waterloo the very first shift and scored less than 6 minutes into the first period. Kris 
Bouchard got the goal from a Luke Irwin assist. The fans were on the officials early as several obvious penalties were missed - infractions by both teams. Sean Kotary scored 6 minutes later with assists from Ryan Dingle and Nate Hansen to end the period with a 2-1 Buc lead.
The second period began where the first period left off, and the way things were going, you just knew their was going to be a fight. Three minutes into the period after a face-off Luke Irwin and Nick Toneys squared off. The fight seemed to calm things down a bit, but it was Waterloo who played with emotion. Even with the emotional play of Waterloo, it was the Bucs who scored the only goal in the second period - on a powerplay. Jeff Genovy fed the puck to Weston Tardy who spotted Luke Irwin all alone in front of the net. Luke one-timed it into the back of the net to make it 3-0.
The third period saw Waterloo outshoot and outplay the Bucs. It it were not for the fantastic play of Buccaneer goalie Chris Gartman, the game would not have ended in a Buc win. Chris came up with save after save, allowing only one goal on a powerplay. The Bucs also scored 12:15 into the period when Jeff Genovy teamed up with Alex Matieroukine and Chris Collins. The game ended with the Bucs on the offensive for the last 2 minutes. It was a key win for the Bucs and showed how important great goal-tending is.
Bouchard (Irwin), Kotary (Dingle, Hansen), Irwin (PP) (Tardy, Genovy), and Genovy (Matieroukine, Collins) scored for the Bucs. Gartman was in goal and faced 36 shots.
Bucs lose 3-2 in Waterloo
Waterloo, IA (3.2.02): This is the second straight time we are facing Waterloo in five days. We defeated the Black Hawks 3-1 on Tuesday, in Waterloo. Can we have the same final result tonight? Black Hawks’ goaltender (Jeff Jakaitis) had an outstanding game Tuesday night; we can hope he doesn’t have the same tonight. The Bucs’ record so far this season against Waterloo is 2-2-1 with 14 goals for and 12 goals against. We will face Waterloo next Friday in Des Moines as well before playing a different team.
(Side note: This won’t be my usually long-winded write-up. I know some of you are saying “thank goodness!” I didn’t take very good notes tonight and I figured both Rob Lettington and Brad Oistad would be there tonight, so I would be able to copy their notes. But, Brad flew solo tonight. I only got the bare-minimum notes.)
Starting goalies: Gartman (DM), Jakaitis (WA)
1st Period: Things started off on a bad note early as the Bucs gets whistled early on a tripping call. Waterloo did not waste much time on their power play. They shoot the puck from the point, which deflects in front and flips past Gartman to give the Black Hawks the 1-0 lead at 1:56. Greg Poupard is credited with the power-play goal with an assist to Andy Nelson. It takes awhile for the Bucs’ offense to warm up and get a shot on goal. Once we got going, Jakaitis was there to answer the call. The period ends, Waterloo 1, Des Moines 0. Shots on goal were Des Moines 10, Waterloo 12.
2nd Period: This period starts off better for the Bucs, they get the puck in deep and are cycling and putting on the pressure, while putting on the pressure, Jakaitis some how loses his goalie stick and a Black Hawks gives him their stick. The Black Hawks are able to get the puck out of the zone, but not longer enough for the goalie to grab his stick from behind the net. Chris Collins cycles the puck in deep and gets the puck to Alex Matieroukine who carries it out front and flips the puck in the net on his back-hand to tie it up 1-1 a piece at 1:08. About mid-way through the period, Waterloo is able to get the puck out of the zone on a 3-on-1 and a quick pass from Neal Sheehan from the left winger, right in front of the crease to a streaking Joel Hanson who puts it in that gives the Black Hawks the 2-1 lead at 11:25. Bucs get their first power play opportunity about 6 minutes to go in the period. The Bucs have the best power play percentage, but also have given up the most short-handed goals as well. It comes to bite them again as Michael Hutchins misplays the puck in his own zone and Ross Carlson takes the gift and goes five hole to give the Black Hawks the 3-1 lead. Ryan Dingle has a 2-on-1 break a few minutes later, his shots rings off the crossbar. The period ends 3-1 Blacks Hawks. Des Moines out-shoots Waterloo 13-12 in the period.
3rd Period: There were no early goals in this period. Waterloo appeared to come out in a defensive, protect the lead type mode. At the 10:05 mark Jeff Genovy is able to squeak one past Jakaitis with assists to Weston Tardy and Collins to cut the lead to 3-2. Bucs keep the pressure on, but the Black Hawks turn up the defense and Jakaitis is making some great saves to keep the lead for the Black Hawks. About a minute and a half to go, the Bucs have a face-off deep in the Black Hawks’ zone and burn their time-out. Around the one-minute mark, Gartman heads to the bench for the extra attacker. The Bucs are able to cycle and gets shots on net, but Jakaitis keeps the puck out and the defense flips the length of the ice at the empty net, but miss with about 8 seconds to go. Bucs win the following face-off and try to get it out front, but Waterloo clears it the length of the ice and goes in the net after the clock reads 0:00.0. Waterloo wins 3-2 snapping Des Moines’ 3-game winning streak. The Bucs seem to have trouble putting together a 4-game winning streak. We have had several 3-game streaks this season, but each time we lose that 4th game. Bucs outshoot the Black Hawks 9-8 this period. The total shots on goal for both teams are 32 a piece.
