”It's too easy when you're not winning to look for excuses and point at others for reasons. ”You can say "Oh well, it's this guys fault or they don't do this well" or you can say "I've got to play better and contribute more". You've got to find another gear and come up with big games.” - Sean Burke – Former NHL GoaltenderLast night the Wranglers for 20 minutes kept pace with the Seattle Totems and gave some hope to the Wrangler fans present that miracles do sometimes happen, but alas that wasn't to be. The 1st period saw the Wranglers and Totems scoreless, even after the Totems posted 22 shots on goal. It was a hard fought period with the Wranglers keeping pace. Chris Kramer in net did a great job stopping the shots. The Wranglers even completed three good penalty kills. The Wranglers had 3 new players on the ice - a defenseman, and two new forwards. Unfortunately even with the 3 new players, the Wranglers had a 5 on 3 power play but failed to score. Probably 5 of the 9 shots for the period were made at this time.
Unfortunately it started to unravel in the 2nd period almost immediately. The Totems scored 4 goals on 23 shots. The first goal came as the Totems rushed and collapsed around the net and fired a very close in upward shot that was almost impossible to defend against. The 2nd goal was a second beautiful cross ice pass and back door shot from the lower circle. The Totems scored two more goals in the 2nd which I believe sealed the win. Unfortunately, each goal seemed to act as a "nail in the coffin" for the Wranglers, slowly grinding them down emotionally after their success in the 1st period. The Wranglers made 9 shots on the Totems goal in the 2nd period.
It's my opinion that the 3rd period was played by the Wranglers to eliminate the "goose egg" and get a face-saving goal. The Wranglers fired 17 shots on goal, but the Totems goalie, Kevin Maile was too, too hot for the Wranglers. Maile is #5 in NorPac amongst goalies with 2.73 GAA and a 0.911 save percentage. Only the General's Aslett is better in the Pacific Division. So, the Wranglers faced a very good goalie last night. The Totems scored twice in the 3rd, on 14 shots. One shot from near the blue line was so fast that Kramer had barely enough time to react before it was already in the back of the net. "It was a rocket, guided by a laser beam."
Last night was entertaining though, with 3 fights between players. I'll be upfront and tell you that I don't care much for fights, but it is part of the game. Unfortunately again, I would say that Seattle edged the Wranglers 2-1 on fights. Fight #1 was between Losey and Vandermoon, both youngsters although Vandermoon is a year older I believe. Good fight and effort, but edge Vandermoon. Next fight was a no contest decision between Waterbury and English. I think folks in downtown Seattle heard English connect with Waterbury on the very first punch. English is a beast. Decision English. Third fight was between Korenovsiy and Galvin, this was a very short fight in that both players slipped to the ice after the first couple of punches. Edge Korenovsiy, although I would say Galvin is definitely a scrapper.
Overall analysis. Again, Wrangler inexperience is what contributed to the loss. I would say 2 out of the 6 Seattle goals were honest goals, the other 4 were because of Wrangler mistakes. The Wranglers not getting a goal was a combination of a superior Totems goalie, poor offensive production as a result of poor passing, and bad luck. Several times the Wranglers got behind the Totems "D" but could not seem to score; couple of times the puck hit the cross bar or pipes. Ugh. Besides that, Seattle is a big, physical team.
Let's see what the Wranglers can work up tonight... Go Wranglers.
