Post-Game vs Kelowna
"It feels like we've been like that all year. A foot off here, a half-second slow there," Hughesman said. "You just have to stick to it and get a few greasy ones."
Hughesman then added two of the Americans' three second-period goals -- the first on a power play -- that essentially put the game out of reach.
His second goal was a thing of beauty, as Brendan Shinnimin glided in from the left circle, patiently waiting for Hughesman to skate to the right post. Once Hughesman hit his mark, Shinnimin put the puck right on his teammates' stick for the easy tap-in to make it 4-1.
"Those two have played together a long time," said Ams coach Jim Hiller. "I was happy with the whole game. We came out the way we wanted, and everybody contributed up and down the lineup."
While Hughesman and Rankin -- who added two more assists -- attacked on offense, several players shared the load offensively, with nine players getting at least one assist.
"That group of forwards is as good as any in the league. I don't think we had an answer for them," Kelowna coach Ryan Huska said. "Our goaltender can only make so many saves." (Herald)
Not mentioned in that article is the hard work of Jordan Messier. It was his best game of the season. Still not 100% Messier, but much better and hopefully that will help towards building his confidence and getting him back on track. His goal was totally sweet with huge assist to Drydn Dow doing some tough work in the corner to get the puck out to Big Mess.
Comrie was good, looked less shaky. It helped that the guys in front of him were way better as well. According to the scoresheet he faced 29 shots, but I'm surprised that many got through to him. He'll be good and last night was a great step in that direction.
Someone (don't remember who) asked in the liveblog the other night about skating--what constitutes "good" and "bad" skating, I told the person to watch Lukas Walter, then watch Brendan Shinnimin and it would become crystal clear. Did you see Shinny last night? Phenomenal. He skated right through the Rockets play-after-play and they were left chasing him.
4 comments:
Gotta agree with you about Mess. It looked like he had a little skip in his step after he got that goal. Nice to see and I hope it gives him some confidence.
Comrie definitely played well and the rest of the team was much better about clearing rebounds.
After the loss against Spokane the other night, I said to the mister about Shinny and Hughey: "Those guys should be lighting it up." It looks like they plan on it.
I was the one asking about the skating thanks for the help. I think that was their best game of the season. I wonder why they can't put forth that kind of effort every game. I thought They had more energy then Kelowna all night.
I think it's still early in the season and they're working a lot of kinks out. They have had guys coming and going out of the lineup and that doesn't help either.
I bet we'll be seeing more games like this than the blowout loss against Spokane.
Did anyone else see Big Mess' face after that goal? He was *pumped*, and it looked like a huge load had been lifted from his shoulders.
Just a shift or two previous, he had an opportunity to bury it back door, but the Kelowna D was solid and had a stick on his, so he kind of shanked the shot. You can hardly blame him; it was just good D. He took it pretty hard though, and left the ice banging his stick on the boards. Kudos to him for staying motivated and working it out on the next shift.
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