LOOKING BACK AT GAMES 1 AND 2
THREE STARTS FROM GAME 2
1. Jason Williamson
It was awesome to see him score the game-winner. His family is down and he hasn’t got a lot of credit all year. He’s been an unsung hero and he’s kept working harder and harder and gained more confidence. He really complements the Abbott brothers well and has adjusted to the way Musky likes to play hockey. He hits everything in sight and does a whale of job for us.
2. Johnny DeCaro
He kept us in the game right off the bat. We would have never had a shot if it wasn’t for Johnny.
3. Jon Horrell
When the goalie is playing that well, you have to keep shooting the puck and hopefully one is going to go in. We actually passed up a couple of shots because we were thinking a little too much about “maybe I can freeze him and make a pass across.” The best play is to keep shooting and going for rebounds. We finally got one that hit our stick and Willie put it home.
Summary of Games 1 and 2
Of course the weekend didn’t go as planned. I couldn’t sit here and tell people that no one has though about, ‘well, what if we did lose, we’re still back in.’ Sure we have.
That first game was a wake-up call. If you play only as good as you have to, you’re going to slip in the next round. This whole year has been about playing consistent hockey. We have to elevate our game more than regular season obviously.
Wichita’s backs are against the wall and they are fighting for their lives.
But we won’t settle for just advancing. It’s not the way it has ever been around here and it never will be. It’s not Mudbugs hockey.
Ever since you’ve been in competitive hockey, you want to win every game. We’re competitors out there. Every time you step on the ice you want to do well.
When we didn’t play well Friday night it really hurt. We had to dig deep in the double-overtime game Saturday. It showed a lot of character on our part. It’s easy to get down and point fingers, but we stuck to our game plan. We didn’t go run-and-gun with them. Some times when you get tired, it’s easy to do that. We have three solid lines and I think that’s what got it done for us in overtime.
The turning point in Game 2, and hopefully the series, came while we were killing a penalty midway through the first period. They had a tough time handling us down low the whole game. We got the puck deep and the Abbott boys, they work so well together, it’s like an extra person out there.
We got three or four scoring chances off that penalty kill – when you get one scoring chance the crowd gets into it. When you get four, it shows you the guys were really working their tails off.
Wichita almost ended it in overtime when Travis Clayton was looking at an open net from the blue line, but Musky and Pegs saved that goal.
You can always hear your coach’s voice. I don’t care how loud the crowd is. Johnny picked up his head, slid across and Pegs deflected the puck into the corner. It didn’t get on net, but Johnny was on his way back to make the save. But you don’t want it that close.
1. Jason Williamson
It was awesome to see him score the game-winner. His family is down and he hasn’t got a lot of credit all year. He’s been an unsung hero and he’s kept working harder and harder and gained more confidence. He really complements the Abbott brothers well and has adjusted to the way Musky likes to play hockey. He hits everything in sight and does a whale of job for us.
2. Johnny DeCaro
He kept us in the game right off the bat. We would have never had a shot if it wasn’t for Johnny.
3. Jon Horrell
When the goalie is playing that well, you have to keep shooting the puck and hopefully one is going to go in. We actually passed up a couple of shots because we were thinking a little too much about “maybe I can freeze him and make a pass across.” The best play is to keep shooting and going for rebounds. We finally got one that hit our stick and Willie put it home.
Summary of Games 1 and 2
Of course the weekend didn’t go as planned. I couldn’t sit here and tell people that no one has though about, ‘well, what if we did lose, we’re still back in.’ Sure we have.
That first game was a wake-up call. If you play only as good as you have to, you’re going to slip in the next round. This whole year has been about playing consistent hockey. We have to elevate our game more than regular season obviously.
Wichita’s backs are against the wall and they are fighting for their lives.
But we won’t settle for just advancing. It’s not the way it has ever been around here and it never will be. It’s not Mudbugs hockey.
Ever since you’ve been in competitive hockey, you want to win every game. We’re competitors out there. Every time you step on the ice you want to do well.
When we didn’t play well Friday night it really hurt. We had to dig deep in the double-overtime game Saturday. It showed a lot of character on our part. It’s easy to get down and point fingers, but we stuck to our game plan. We didn’t go run-and-gun with them. Some times when you get tired, it’s easy to do that. We have three solid lines and I think that’s what got it done for us in overtime.
The turning point in Game 2, and hopefully the series, came while we were killing a penalty midway through the first period. They had a tough time handling us down low the whole game. We got the puck deep and the Abbott boys, they work so well together, it’s like an extra person out there.
We got three or four scoring chances off that penalty kill – when you get one scoring chance the crowd gets into it. When you get four, it shows you the guys were really working their tails off.
Wichita almost ended it in overtime when Travis Clayton was looking at an open net from the blue line, but Musky and Pegs saved that goal.
You can always hear your coach’s voice. I don’t care how loud the crowd is. Johnny picked up his head, slid across and Pegs deflected the puck into the corner. It didn’t get on net, but Johnny was on his way back to make the save. But you don’t want it that close.
posted by Dan Wildfong at 12:38 AM
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