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Bucs Lose in Shoot-out, 3-2

Kearny, NE (1.4.03): Period 1: Bucs start off the game scoring first as Matt Burto feeds Joel Kitchen leads the Bucs in on a 3-on-2 and feeds Tomas Jasko open in front to give the Bucs the 1-0 lead at 2:19. Former Storm player Pat Borgestad, goes off for cross-checking at 5:37 mark and the Storm are able to capitalize David Boguslawski with assists to two former Buccaneers, Ryan Dingle and Steve Wagner at 7:08 mark. Late in the period, Marty Guerin goes off for tripping which will carry over into the second period. The period ends 1-1.

Period 2: Bucs kill off the remainder of Guerin's penalty. Both teams have scoring chances throughout the period, but Brian Papcun for Des Moines and Casey Mapes for Tri-City keep it 1-1 until late in the period. With less then a minute remaining, Jasko feeds a pass to Burto who finds the back of the net to give the Bucs the 2-1 lead at 19:15 point. Bryce Anderson goes off at the 19:40 mark with an elbowing call. The penalty will carry over to the third period.

Period 3: Once again the Bucs are able to kill off the carry over penalty. Papcun is having to come up with saves early in the period to keep the score the same. But at the 7:25 point Bill Thomas is able to tie the score with assists to Wagner and Mark Agnew. Both goalies and team's defense keep the score the same and we head into overtime tied, 2-2.

Overtime: Neither team is able to score in the overtime and we head to a shoot-out.

Shoot-Out: Mike Neilon goes first and scores, but no other Buccaneer is able to get one past Mapes while two Storm players score for the Storm 3-2 shoot-out win. Written by Kevin Kasel.

Papcun Gets 2 - 0 Shutout

Cedar Rapids, IA (1.7.03): Period 1: The Bucs come out early and get on the board first with goal from Tomas Jasko with helpers to Evan Stoflet and Joel Kitchen at 2:17 mark. Even though the Bucs had the only penalty called against them in the period, during the penalty kill, they had more scoring opportunities then the Roughriders. Brian Papcun stood on his head and kept the puck out of the net with help from his defense, to make it 1-0 after one period.

Period 2: The Bucs come out strong and play tough defense to keep the score the same. The Buccaneers get their first power play opportunity in the second around the 5-minute point and another a few minutes later, but Buccaneers were not able to convert on either power play chance. The Buccaneers have 2 late penalties called against them. The Roughriders will have 0:41 seconds of 5-on-3 power play to start off the third period.

Period 3: The Buccaneers are able to kill off the 5-on-3 and Jasko is able to increase the lead soon after the penalties expired, 2-0 at the 2:31 mark. The Buccaneers had to kill off two other penalties in the period, one late in the game. Papcun was getting peppered throughout the period, but was able to answer all 41 shots and get the shutout. The Buccaneers win their first road game in regulation of the season, 2-0. Written by Kevin Kasel.

Bucs Lose In Overtime, 4 - 3

Urbandale, IA (1.10.03): The Tri-City Storm, playing with emotion and determination, outplayed the Buccaneers in route to a 4-3 overtime win Friday night in Des Moines. The Storm, coached by former Buccaneer Reggie Simon, built a 3-1 second period lead before goals by Marty Guerin and Tomas Jasko tied the game in the third period. The Buccaneers had a chance to win the game in overtime when they got a 2 on 1 break. The Storm turned around and used a break to score the winning goal 2:30 into the overtime period. Joe Campbell opened scoring for the Bucs early in the first period with a wicked slap shot. It was Joe's first goal since re-joining the Buccaneers last month. Joe also showed his toughness when he got into a fight with the Storm's Chad Anderson. Photography and story by Steve Bendy.


Lancers Shutout Bucs, 2 - 0

Council Bluffs, IA (1.11.03): Period 1: The Lancers come out and pepper A.J. Bucchino in the period. A.J. turns away shot after shot, but with less then two minutes left, Yale Lewis gets the puck into the net to give the Lancers 1-0 lead. A.J. stops 18 of the 19 shots thrown at him. Chad Beiswenger sees very little action, only having to stop three shots in the period.

Period 2: This period the Bucs were able to get the shots on goal more reasonable; SOG, 12-11 in favor of the Lancers. The score still remains the same, 1-0, but the Bucs have a some scoring chances in the period.

Period 3: Around the mid-way through the third, the Lancers are able to get another one past A.J. off a face-off to make it 2-0. The Bucs pull the goalie late, but to no avail, they fail to score and leave a goose-egg on the board for the first time in 33 games (April 5, 2002 in Rochester, 0-4). Written by Kevin Kasel.

Bucs Bury Green Bay in 2nd Period

Urbandale, IA (1.16.03): The Buccaneers delighted the home crowd by lighting the lamp 6 times thursday night against the Green Bay Gamblers. The Buccaneers broke out of a 1-1 tie, scoring 4 goals in the second period. Joel Kitchen scored 2 goals just 33 seconds apart, assisted by Mike Erickson to lead the onslaught. Casey Russell scored his first goal as Buccaneer, and Jamie Hoffman, an NHL draft-pick, added another to extend the lead to 5-2 by the end of the second period. Tomas Jasko added a power-play goal halfway through the third period to give the Bucs the 6-2 win. Story by Steve Bendy.

Topeka Blasts Bucs, 6-1

Topeka, KS (1-17-03): Period 1: Topeka comes out and gets on the board first, Rob Rankin scores with assists to Brent Cummings and Nick Pernula at 11:43. The Scarecrows score with less then two-minutes left to increase the lead to 2-0 before the intermission. The Bucs were badly out-shoot in the period, 14 to 4.

Period 2: This period is not so lop-sided as far as shots on goals go. Topeka owned a 16-14 for shots on goals advantage in the second period. The Bucs do have a late power play that will carry-over into the third period. But the score remains the same, 2-0 in favor of Topeka.

Period 3: The Bucs eliminate their power play opportunity and get whistled for a penalty early in the period. The Bucs are able to score right after Topeka's penalty ended to score a short-handed goal by Kyle Bushee with an assist to Mike Erickson, to make 2-1 Topeka. Things don't go the Bucs' way the remainder of the game, as Topeka scores two power play goals, one at 6:58, then again at the 10:50 mark. Topeka is not done yet, they add two more to make th final 6-1, Topeka. Written by Kevin Kasel.

Bucs Defeat Tri-City 6-4

Kearny, NE (1.19.03): Period 1: Bucs take advantage of their first power play opportunity, as Matt Burto gets the puck past Casey Mapes with an assist to Jamie Hoffmann at 4:09 mark. About two minutes later, Burto gets his second goal of the night, with helpers to Hoffmann and Tomas Jasko, time of this power play goal, 6:20. Six seconds after the Bucs take the 2-0 lead, Hoffmann gets a major and game misconduct and ejection for cross-checking. The Storm are able to get one past Brian Papcun on the 5-minute penalty to cut the lead to 2-1. Then with about 4-minutes left in the period, former Buccaneer, Ryan Dingle ties the score, 2-2.

Period 2: Second period, the Bucs regain the lead with a goal from Marty Guerin with a helper to Mike Erickson at the 6:56 point to give the Bucs the lead again, 3-2. This is Erickson's 5th assist in four games, since joining the team on January 11, River City Lancers' game. The Bucs are able to kill off two penalties during the period to hold onto the 3-2 lead and take it to the locker room.

Period 3: The start of this period is a scoring spree. One-minute into the period, Jon Rudnick give the Bucs the 4-2 lead with assists to Bryce Anderson and Evan Stoflet. 25 seconds later, Tri-City's Matt Scherer cut it to 4-3 Bucs' lead. Then at 2:51, a sliding Joel Kitchen, gets the puck past Casey Mapes with assist to Guerin and Thomas Morrow. Tri-City answers back at 8:48 with Dingle's second goal of the night. The Storm keep the pressure on, but Papcun keeps the score the same. Then with the Casey Mapes on the bench, Mike Erickson gets the puck ahead to Guerin for the empty-netter at the 19:55 mark to make it a 6-4 final. Written by Kevin Kasel.

Solid Effort Gets Overtime Win

Urbandale, IA (1.25.03): A solid 60 minutes of hockey plus a never-quit attitude gave the Bucs a 5-4 win over a talented and hard-working Sioux City squad. The Buccaneers scored the first goal, and despite being tied by Sioux City, always scored the next goal, ending the game just 47 seconds into the sudden-death overtime. The game would not even have gone into overtime had not netminder Brian Papcun's glove not failed. With just 9 minutes remaining in the game, a slap-shot from the blue-line by Sioux City's BJ Greaves, was caught by Papcun, but ripped through his glove and into the net.

The goal tied the game, sending both teams into overtime. The Bucs wasted no time ending the game, as Marty Guerin and Mike Erickson broke out in the open. At the last minute, Marty slid the puck to Mike who was all alone. Mike skated in on the Sioux City goaltender, made him go down and then put the puck into the open net. The packed arena rose to their feet as the entire team mobbed Erickson. It was an impressive win for the Bucs, and a real crowd pleaser.

The Bucs opened scoring at 10:56 after Sioux City had been putting tremendous pressure on Brian Papcun. Casey Russell scored from a tough angle. Sioux City put on a tremendous effort, but Brian Papcun kept the puck out of the net and the period ended with a 1-0 Buc lead.

Sioux City scored with just 24 seconds gone in the second period to tie the game. Tomas Jasko put the Bucs back in the lead (assisted by Matt Burto and Jamie Hoffman) with 4 minutes remaining in the period. Again, Sioux City scored with less than a minute gone -this time in the third period. Six minutes later Mike Neilon let a slap shot rip that beat Jimmy Spratt and gave the Bucs a 3-2 lead. The lone assist went to Evan Stoflet. Two minutes later Sioux City tied it up, but the Bucs were playing a strong game and the team and fans sensed that the night belonged to them. One minute later Joe Campbell picked up a pass from Mike Neilon and skated across the center line at full-speed. Instead of dumping the puck in the zone, he split the defense and walked in on the goalie. A hard shot lit the light and gave the Bucs the 4-3 lead. Two minutes later Sioux City tied the game on the equipment failure and sent the game into overtime. Story by Steve Bendy.

Bucs Dominate Team USA

Urbandale, IA (1.26.03): The Buccaneers put away the USA Select 18 team with a convincing 5 - 1 win. Coach Ferguson was concerned that the team may not play well in an exhibition game after such an emotional win. He did not need to worry, as the team came out of the locker room on fire.

Tomas Jasko opened scoring at 6:52 of the first period, assisted by Pat  Borgestad and Casey Russell. Two minutes later Mike Erickson made it 2-0 on an unassisted short-handed goal. AJ Bucchino was playing a solid game and the period ended with a 2-0 Buccaneer lead. Team USA added a powerplay goal in the second period to make it 2-1, but that was as close as they would get. Marty Guerin added a second period goal to make it 3-1, then scored again to make it 4-1. Tomas Jasko added one more goal to give the Bucs the 5-1 win. Story by Steve Bendy.

Jasko Gets Hat-Trick in Crucial 5-2 Win

Urbandale, IA (1.31.03): Slovakian Tomas Jasko picked up a hat-trick in a crucial 5-2 win over the Chicago Steel Friday night. The win gave the Bucs 2 more points in a race for a playoff spot - and just as important, denied Chicago points. Currently, Chicago occupies the eighth and final playoff position. The win pulls the Bucs within 2 points of the Steel. Before the game Coach Ferguson said that this was the most important game the Bucs had played all season. The Bucs responded with a convincing win.

After the game Ferguson had nothing but praise for his team, saying that they played a complete game from goal-tending to special teams. Brian Papcun had another stellar night, keeping the Steel off the scoreboard until late in the third period. The Bucccaneers scored two powerplay goals and a short-hander while holding Chicago scoreless on 8 tries. Mike Erickson picked up the short-handed goal (see the movie of the goal) in the second period to give the Bucs a 3-0 lead. Photos and story by Steve Bendy.

Disclaimer
This is a game summary and commentary from a Buccaneer fan's point of view, and the viewpoints expressed in this column DO NOT necessarily reflect those of the Des Moines Buccaneer's organization.