The Red Wings came up with big first and third periods to down the Spirit 8-2. The home team came out with all guns blazing and Joey Diamond took a cross-ice pass from Josh McQuade and converted on the powerplay. It was his 28th. of the season. At the halfway mark Nathan Pageau broke through and blasted one just wide but Anthony Ruberto picked up the puck behind the net and fed it out to Pageau who made no mistake this time for his 24th. The goal was scored with the teams playing four on four. A couple of minutes later as Mike Ball had just taken a seat in the box for a double minor when McQuade picked the disc up and went the length of the ice to give Kori Coelho no chance in registering his fifth shorthanded marker of the season. It was 4-0 just before the end of the period as McQuade after stealing the puck put some fancy moves on the Spirit defence to score his 29th.
The second period was, unusually, scoreless. It looked like the Spirit may have been given a little talking to in the dressing room as they played the Wings much closer. Hamilton ran into more penalty problems before Bryant Doerrsam and Bruce Crawford got into an altercation with number 88 getting a decision with a takedown. The Wings were losing players fast now as Diamond was out with an injury and captain Josh Vella was given a ten minute misconduct.
Five minutes into the third Pageau got his second of the game with a seeing-eye swingaround backhand along the ice. Stouffville did get on the board at 6.40 through Dale Dellavale. Four goals were scored starting at 10.39 and ending at 11.41..a minute and two seconds. It all started with a goal credited to Josh Dadic but from where I was sitting it looked like Pageau potted Dadic's rebound. Ruberto then stole the puck and walked in alone to make it 7-1 unassisted. Don Maloney got the spirit's second, unassisted also and then Pageau with officially his third and 26th of the season. The Wings controlled the puck for the remainder of the game which looked more like a practice session.
Carson Hau had an excellent game in the Wings' net. Tim Revell was not dressed for the Wings neither was Adam Plce. David Fortino impressed with his solid play on the blueline. Ball, who seems to be a favourite target of the whistle-happy referees ended up with ten penalty minutes.
In other games in overtime the Hurricanes won 2-1 in Cobourg with Joel Hanley getting the winner. Jimmy Sarjeant stopped 44 of 45 Cougar shots.
The Blades quickly got back to their winning ways with a 5-1 win in Vaughan in which they had a 52-28 shot advantage. Luke Moodie scored the game winner. The Blades keyed the win with a four goal outburst in the third.
Peterborough won 6-4 in Whitby. Trevor McKinney and Mike Ryan had two each for the Stars.
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above post I think it means 6:40 of the 3rd period not at 6:40 PM!
What's up with the Spirit's ownership? They sell players and don't acquire anybody? Anyone heard of trades or acquisitions for them? Will they ever win a game again this year? Very frustrating as a fan...no wonder nobody goes to the games.
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With the Chargers Bruce was the go-to guy, the leader of their first, and really only productive, line. He feasted on teams by staying close to the blueline to receive passes and use his devastating shot to good effect. He was out on almost every powerplay and got lots of points that way with help from McGrail and Bevilacqua. It is a little different in Hamilton where the top forwards are speedy and at this point, whether it is due to lack of conditioning or not, he cannot keep up when he is on the ice with the likes of Pageau, McQuade and Diamond. In the two games I have seen him play he looks tentative most of time and the other forwards are not always looking for him as were his team-mates in Mississauga. I sensed a frustration, perhaps in part because of this, which led to his brief fight with Doerrsam of the Spirit last night.
The coach tried him with bigger lads like Watson, Dadic and Bessenov and it is hard to see where he will fit in for the moment. The Wings took oodles of penalties against the Spirit which means that Bruce spends a lot more time on the bench than usual for him as the coach does not use him in shorthanded situations. Stats do not lie and Bruce's record at this level speaks for itself but I think if he is to become an important cog in a successful team it will be in a role much changed from what he is accustomed to.
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