Special Teams Showdown
Like many games, this match between the Anaheim Outlaws and the Vancouver Whalers came down to who executes best on special teams. In this area, Vancouver clearly was the superior team tonight. The Whalers ran their power play to a 40% success rate, going 2 for 5 on the night. Mikas Bieksa had a strong performance, quarterbacking the Whalers top PP unit and setting up two goals while on the man advantage. The Whalers also killed off the only penalty the took in the game, giving them a PK/PP combined score of 140%. On the opposite end, the Outlaws just couldn't keep up, unable to score on their power play and failing to contain the Whalers onslaught.

Possession Game
Another big advantage the Whalers secured for themselves, the possession was completely one sided in this game. Vancouver put 41 shots on net while allowing only 19 against, giving them a 21 shot advantage over the Outlaws. A big part of this was the power disparity, both in the amount of shots put out during the man advantage, and the momentum given from them. Bobby Bobcalf was especially effective at creating chances, getting 7 shots on goal, scoring one goal. The face-off game came up big as well, with the Whalers winning 9 more face-offs throughout the game, with each of their top 9 centers winning over 58% of their draws.

Experience Angle
The Vancouver Whalers are a veteran led team, and it showed tonight. They controlled the pace of the play and capitalized on mistakes, while limiting their own. One reasoning behind this might be the inexperience throughout the Outlaws roster compared to the Whalers. The outlaws have multiple rookies in key roles on their team, particularly down the middle with 3 out of the 4 centers being first year players, an area in which the Whalers managed to have a large advantage in tonight's game. All together, the Outlaws have 4 rookies in top 6/top 4 roles, and 8 total, compared to the Whalers, who have 2 rookies in top 6/top 4 roles, and 6 total. The experience won out tonight.