Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Better effort, same result for Klippers in Game 3

Chalk up another touchdown for the Yorkton Terriers.

Despite getting off to a much better start and carrying the play for the first 25 minutes of the game, the Klippers once again surrendered seven goals tonight in a 7-0 loss in Game 3 of the Sherwood Conference final.

The Klippers have not scored in 137 minutes, 16 seconds - dating back to Jesse Mysiorek's goal in the third period of Game 1 - and they are one loss away from elimination.

The complexion of this game changed dramatically 4:47 into the second period when a Casey Rogers giveaway in the Klipper zone went right onto the tape of Justin Buzzeo in the high slot. Buzzeo, who recorded a hat trick tonight, was untouched and ripped a shot over Justin McDonald's left shoulder to give the Terriers a 3-0 lead.

Up to that point, the Klippers had been the better team and were pressing hard to get on the board. You could almost see their game unravel after the goal as the Terriers began to pull away, leading 6-0 after 40 minutes.

In the first period, Kindersley carried the shots 13-9 and were clearly the better side, especially in the last 10 minutes, but Buzzeo and Robbie Ciolfi scored in the first seven minutes, both on skilled plays that left little chance for McDonald, to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

Devin Peters was again very good tonight, but let's be real: the Klippers had several chances that they would have scored on in the regular season. Part of the scoring problem is Peters playing well; the other is the Klippers are making him look even better by failing to finish off plays.

Part of that, without a doubt, comes from the psychological effect of being drubbed three straight times by a team that only finished three points ahead in the standings. The Klippers beat this team in their last three meetings of the regular season, all coming after the deadline pickup of Buzzeo and Boyer.

McDonald was pulled midway through the second period after Boyer scored a breakaway goal off a neutral zone turnover to make it 4-0. Perhaps Mac could have been a little better, but he should in no way be blamed for the loss. He didn't have much of a chance on the two early goals and was hung out to dry on the other two.

The total damage for Yorkton was a hatty for Buzzeo, two goals for Breitkreuz and singles for Ciolfi and Boyer.

Speaking of which, the Terriers' sixth goal bothered me. They were leading 5-0 late in the second period and had a two-man advantage for almost two full minutes after the Klippers began to lose their composure. So they throw out Boyer, Buzzeo, Breitkreuz, Ciolfi and Tendler? You be the judge.

For the Klippers, I thought the Mysiorek-Hoffman-Duzan line was their best, especially in the first period. Despite all three players being injured recently, and Hoffman clearly being less than 100% - he couldn't take face-offs or shoot the puck - the line hustled all night and created many of the team's best scoring chances. Kudos to them for continuing to battle even when the game was out of reach.

Johnny Calkins also deserves some kudos for his game tonight. He, too, was playing at far from 100% and it was obvious, as he couldn't take draws, had trouble distributing the puck and lacked speed. Yet you could see he was giving it his all throughout the game, throwing a few hits, blocking shots and hustling on the forecheck.

The challenge for the Klippers now becomes sending the series back to Yorkton for Game 5 on Friday.

7 comments:

  1. Maybe, Larry wasnt the problem... The Klippers heads were as big as a beach ball... Not scoring in 137 minutes, 16 seconds and getting 7 goals against is BRUTAL.... I dont think Larry was the problem... Theres too much cancer in that locker rooom...

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  2. Its the playoffs. The 6th goal is simply saying "I do not care what the score is, we want another one."

    You never take your foot off of the gas pedal in the playoffs for fear of it becoming a habit.

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  3. Are you serious, we are going to bring up the L factor again? Do you think for a minute the 20 guys and staff don't want to win? That all of a sudden they decided to shut it down? Give Yorkton their due, they can't do anything wrong and the Klippers can't buy a break. Please, let's get over Larry. Despite your wishes he's not coming back.

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  4. Sorry Josh, if I have a 5 on 3 in the playoffs, I don't care what the score is. I send out my big guns. My only reservation would be that someone would take a run at a star.

    In the regular season, no, I wouldn't think of it. Give some other guys the time. Post Season, it's about sending the message that you are done tomorrow night. A little extra food for thought for the Klippers as they head off the ice down seven.

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  5. Play the same game regardless of the score.....this idea that teams need to take it easy, is just garbage. If the shoe was on the other foot, you wouldn't be saying it about the Klippers. I have seen several times in this series already where the 3rd and 4th lines are on the power play. If the Klippers are going to continue to take bad penalties, the first line will be out for some of it.

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  6. Hey Josh, last regular season game, a nothing game against battleford, it was clearly over after the first 10 minutes,yet the klippers ran the score to 9-2. is this your first exposure to competitive hockey>

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  7. Never would a bench run under Larry Wintoneak have so many frustrated, selfish, pouting players entering and leaving it at will... He would not accept it and those players would be held accountable for their negative behaviour.

    There was no demand, no emotion from the coaches and the only emotion shown by the players who fired their coach was frustration.

    As for the score, in a 7 game series you never stop no matter the score. The klippers layed over like wounded dogs. When really they should have been in attack mode, every hit, every fight (0), pays dividends in the next game.

    Klippers Board, you created this mess, the future is very bleak for this team. 650 fans at game 3 of the semi-final, look out your team is a sinking ship with a rookie coach and (9) 20 year olds departing.

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