Good evening folks and welcome to the Carolina Kraken post-game show brought to you by Bojangles. I'm Joe Frazier with the Carolina Sports Network coming to you live from the Mile One Centre in St. John's Newfoundland. We had quite the game between these two clubs despite being on opposite ends of the standings. Let's look at some highlights from tonight. 

First Period:

Carolina started the game very aggressive but also a little reckless. Three shots in the first 30 seconds all miss the net, Micheal Fitted takes a shot with a tip from Alexei Rykov which goes high, Rykov collects the puck and shoots himself and misses wide. Newfoundland ices the puck and Carolina changes lines. Kenny Creller takes a shot that also misses wide but Tom Fiddler collects the puck and wrists it past Steven Vassallo for the goal! The first shot on net is a goal. Vassallo thought he had that one but it just trickled through his pads. Vassallo settles in and makes a few stops after that.  Seven minutes into the first Zbigniew Pokrywka skates the puck into the zone, he's got numbers, passes to Ricky Bobby who one-times it but misses wide. Alexei Rykov is waiting behind the net and he tucks it in on the wrap around! Vassallo was looking the other way. 15 seconds later Vince Chalut lays a nasty hit on Creller and knocks the puck loose, but he caught Creller up high with his stick and Carolina is going to go on the powerplay.  Creller is OK and stays out on the powerplay unit. Carolina sets up a cycle in the Newfoundland zone. Rykov loses the puck but it's picked up by Ricky Bobby who shoots but misses wide. Kenny Creller scoops up the loose puck and he spins and shoots. And it's in! High glove side, off the crossbar and in! A powerplay goal for Creller who took the high stick and then cashed it in himself. This game is quickly getting out of hand for Newfoundland. Not even halfway through the first and Carolina is up 3-0, however 9 minutes in, Newfoundland finally gets some offensive pressure on Carolina. Steve Harrington shoots, misses the net, collects his own miss and shoots again, just barely misses the far post. Riley Kuse has the puck and he snaps one and it's in! Short side past Mike Hroch who just couldn't get over fast enough. Newfoundland is finally on the board. In the 14th minute, Zbigniew Pokrywka skates into the zone again, passes to Alexander Wachter who one touches it to Tom Fiddler for the one-timer and he blasts one past Vassallo for his second of the game! And that's going to be the end of Vassallo's night as he gets pulled and replaced with rookie Ryan Aaron. Let's see if he can fare any better. Newfoundland finishes the period with a flurry of shots on Hroch but they are unable to solve the Carolina netminder and the horn blows. 

End of First - CAR 4 :: NEW 1

Second Period:

Newfoundland really needs to regroup here. Let's see if they can come out in the second and make some changes. Three minutes in and Slatt Potts takes a holding call and Carolina is going back onto the powerplay. This is not what Newfoundland needed. Newfoundland wins the faceoff and clears the zone, but the pass by Akira Ren is intercepted by Tom Fiddler and he passes to Alexander Wachter who's in all alone on Aaron and he goes forehand-backhand and tucks it around the pad. Aaron never stood a chance on that one and it's another powerplay goal for Carolina. Just after that, Kraken defenseman Ambacas Cuddles gets called for hooking and Newfoundland goes on the powerplay but they are unable to cash in. Two spectacular saves by Hroch keep the Berserkers off the board. In the 13th minute Newfoundland manages to get some extended pressure in the Carolina zone. Potts shoots and Hroch gives up a juicy rebound, Thomas Vanice shoots and misses the net, collects his own miss and shoots again, stop by Hroch but another rebound, another shot by Potts and Hroch finally grabs the puck and freezes it. Faceoff in the Carolina zone, won by MacTavish and Carolina briefly clears the zone but Newfoundland is able to dump the puck back deep into the zone. After a short rest the Potts/Vanice/Okabe line jumps back out onto the ice for Newfoundland.  Okabe intercepts a pass from Alexei Rykov trying to clear the zone and whips it across for the one timer by Vanice and this time he doesn't miss. Blows by Hroch and Newfoundland has their second of the game. Carolina still has a 3 goal lead but they have to be careful, Newfoundland out-shot Carolina 12-9 in that period and they seem to have finally found some life. 

End of Second - CAR 5 :: NEW 2

Third Period:

Newfoundland comes out for the third period with a lot of energy. They're looking for an epic comeback here.  Six minutes in and MacTavish takes a penalty for holding the stick. Newfoundland goes on the powerplay. The Berserkers get established in the zone and put on a passing clinic. Disisde Dayudie passes it to Okabe, back to Dayudie, pass to Jukka Timonen, back to Okabe, pass to Vanice, back to Timonen at the point, cross-ice to Dayudie for the one-timer and he scores! Smoked that one past Hroch. Things are getting a little chippy. Newfoundland has some new energy and lays a couple hits, including a doozie by (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn on Alexei Rykov that Alexei was slow to get up from. At the 16 minute mark, Creller takes a minor penalty for hooking and Newfoundland is going back on the powerplay. Carolina is losing their discipline in this game and they need to buckle down. Akira Ren skates the puck into the zone and plays give and go with Cody, pass to Cody, back to Ren, back to Cody who shoots and misses just wide but Ren collects it and tucks it five hole on a sliding Hroch and in! Another powerplay goal for Newfoundland and they are within one! Two minutes left and Newfoundland pulls the goalie for the extra attacker and throw everything they've got at the net.  Shot by Potts misses wide, collected by Vanice who shoots, save by Hroch but he can't hang on to it, shot by Okabe misses the net, shot by (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn blocked by Wyatt Ruschkoff, who is hobbled by it slightly, shot by Steve Harrington blocked by Ambacas Cuddles, shot by Dayudie and Hroch finally freezes the puck. Not over yet though.  Gregory Stiemsma wins the faceoff to keep the zone for Newfoundland, shot by Cody and Hroch hangs on again. Micheal Fitted wins the faceoff and clears the zone for Carolina and the horn goes. Carolina barely hung on to that one.  Newfoundland outshot Carolina 14 to 2 in the 3rd period but just couldn't quite make-up the difference.  Bad luck for rookie Ryan Aaron who takes the loss, despite only letting in one goal. 

End of Third - CAR 5 :: NEW 4

Win: Mike Hroch (CAR), 32 saves from 36 shots - (0.889), 60:00 minutes
Loss: Ryan Aaron (NLB), 10 saves from 11 shots - (0.909), 45:30 minutes
No Decision: Steven Vassallo (NLB), 7 saves from 11 shots - (0.636), 14:30 minutes

Let's take a look at the Cheerwine Three Stars of the Game:
Third Star, with 1G, 1A, and a +1 Kenny Creller (CAR)
Second Star with 2A and a +2 Zbigniew Pokrywka (CAR)
And the First Star with 2G, 1A and a +1 Tom Fiddler (CAR)

In my opinion, one of the stars should have been Alexander Wachter with a goal and an assist, including the game winner, but I'm not sure what the voters look at when they vote. That's going to do it for us here from St. Johns. We'll see you tomorrow night, back home in Charlotte as the Kraken take on the Anaheim Outlaws. Goodnight folks!