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*puolivalmiste* · 08-28-2019, 07:11 PM

Vancouver Whalers vs St. Louis Scarecrows

Game #92 - Game Link

Final score after shootout:

4-3

(1-1, 1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

Pre-Game:
Last ten games for St. Louis were 5 wins, 4 losses and one overtime loss but they are coming into this game in 2 game losing streak looking to end it at home. Vancouver on the other hand has had very poor performance lately coming into game in 7 game losing streak with last ten record of 1-8-1, looking to turn their ship around.

First period:

You can see that both teams are on ice with bit too much energy as after Vancouver takes puck over to St. Louis side Noah Brusky takes minor holding penalty only 5 seconds into game. Even as Vancouver has been struggling to find wins for while their power play has been one of best in league, and when there is 31 seconds left on Brusky's penalty Artem Mozgov finds Egor Kucherov who puts puck into net between Marques Brownlee's legs.

Vancouver Whalers , Egor Kucherov 3 (Artem Mozgov 4, Joe Ackroyd 10) at 1:34 (PP)

Whalers don't have too long to celebrate their lead as at 2:32 of first period Whalers captain Jon Forty-One takes minor penalty for tripping. Mika Kandinsky wins face-off and Nicolaj Muller receives puck. He shoots it over shoulder of Kasperi Braulin to tie game after 6 seconds of power play.

St. Louis Scarecrows , Nicolaj Muller 10 (Mika Kandinsky 12) at 2:38 (PP)

After lightning start both teams take bit time to refocus and even as Jon Forty-One takes minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct at 6:10, Basil Magnicotta (at 12:05) and Flash Gordon (at 15:55) both take minor penalty for high sticking no more goals are scored in first and we end period with shots going 12-11 to Vancouver.

Second period:

Second period starts in similar manner that first one as Flash Gordon takes for roughing penalty at 0:25, yet this time Whalers are unable to capitalize on their power play. After penalty there is some back and forth and closest to scoring once again is Jon Forty-One who hits the post at 4:24 of second period. Then at 6:15 minor penalty gets called to Artem Mozgov for hooking. St. Louis is trying to take lead for first time during game but are unable to find back of the net.

About 9 minutes into second period Björn Leppänen passes puck to Cullen Gray who shoots puck but his shot gets blocked, but Grey is there to retrieve puck and takes another shot which once again is blocked. This time puck is deflected to Sami Rieder who has almost empty net in front of him and easily send puck past Marques Brownlee.

Vancouver Whalers , Sami Rieder 4 (Cullen Gray 10, Bjorn Leppanen 6) at 9:07

Yet once again Vancouver drops down one gear and two and half minutes later Nikitnory McCrosbov sends puck behind Braulin to tie game once again.

St. Louis Scarecrows , Nikitnory McCrosbov 3 (Basil Magnicotta 10) at 11:39

Rest of period is quite uneventful, expect Aron Hernadivic taking minor for tripping at 13:41, which results in no goal. Later in period Aron Hernadivic hits post in Vancouver's end and Victor Toeman takes hold on Flash Gordon who retrieves puck sending him into box for 2 minutes but once again St. Louis is unable to find their way to lead.

Shots during second period were 10-7 for Vancouver's favor.

Third period:

During third period St.Louis has better hold on game but even as Björn Leppänen takes minor penalty for tripping at 6:25 Vancouver penalty kill unit shows why they are one of best in league, keeping game tied. It takes one more penalty for St. Louis to actually see some more scoring. At 12:28 Noah Brusky takes minor for hooking, which leads to Kucherov's second power play goal of the game.

Vancouver Whalers , Egor Kucherov 4 (Joe Ackroyd 11, Jan Zacha 8) at 13:47 (PP)

St. Louis are now checking time left on the clock and trying for third time to tie the game. For home crowds pleasure, St. Louis's first line center takes lead and scores goal when just over 4 minutes are left.

St. Louis Scarecrows , Mika Kandinsky 8 (Barrett Blackwood 11, Basil Magnicotta 11) at 15:48

After their goal St. Louis has good pressure in Vancouver's end trying to find that last minute game winning goal but Vancouver holds off and we move into overtime.

Shots for third period are 7 for Vancouver Whalers vs 9 for St. Louis Scarecrows.

Overtime:

During over time both teams have 2 shots on goal and only other things recorded are 3 icings and one off-side, so we will need to find winner for game in shootout.

ShootOut:

Vancouver starts with Gullen Gray but Marques Brownlee is able to catch Gray's backhand shot.
St. Louis sends Jakub Bruchevski as their first player but Kasperi Braulin is on top of his game and makes easy save.
Artem Mozgov for Vancouver tries to take quick shot at five hole but Brownlee shuts it down just in time.
Next for St. Louis is Barrett Blackwood who tries to imitate some highlight reel stuff from SHL and he misses the net altogether.
Third for Vancouver is Jon Forty-One who shows to Blackwood how it was supposed to do scoring first goal of shootout as Brownlee is helpless against legendary Forty-One.
St. Louises last hope is Nicolaj Muller but Braulin is standing like concrete wall at Whalers goal and Vancouver take their first win in very long time.

Three Stars of the Game:

1 - Mika Kandinsky, Game tying goal + 1 assist = 2 Points (St. Louis)
2 - Egor Kucherov, 2 Goals + 0 Assists = 2 Points (Vancouver)
3 - Nicolaj Muller, 1 Goal + 0 Assists = 1 Point (St. Louis)

*Ferda* · 08-28-2019, 11:34 PM

Chippy Battle
This tilt from the Scarecrows and Whalers had 11 penalties taken. The total penalty minutes between both teams was 22, meaning that a team was on the back-foot for just over a third of the game. The Whalers were responsible for 10 minutes and the Scarecrows were on the PK for 12. Both teams did not like each other at all and it all started with Noah Brusky’s hooking penalty in the first 5 seconds of the game which spiraled into 4 other penalties in the first period, 4 in the second and 3 in the third. Neither team was willing to back down and you can see by how chippy this game was or by how whistle-hungry the refs were. Either way, the flow of the game was heavily dictated by both teams being on the PK for a significant portion of the game.

Mistakes Nearly Cost the Whalers
The Whalers' lapses in their own end nearly costed them the entire game. Their inability to make the correct defensive play when under pressure, were the defining differences in them being unable to maintain their lead in regulation. After every goal, the Whalers immediately gave up their lead within 2 minutes of gaining it. The first goal, which occurred at 2:38 of the 1st period, was off the back of lost face-off on the penalty kill which led to an easy snipe off the draw from the Scarecrow’s, Nicolaj Muller to make it 1-1. On the second tying goal at 11:39, Bjorn Leppanen’s outlet pass ends up being intercepted by Basil Magnicotta in the neutral zone which results in an easy zone entry for the Scarecrows, where Nikitnory McCrosbov snipes one on Kasperi Braulin to make it 2-2. The third goal came off of the Whalers’ inability to clear the zone after a great block by Kaspars Claude and a great save by Braulin as Mika Kandinsky was able to pounce on a free rebound in front of the net to even the score at 3-3 late in the 3rd.

Powerplay Struggles for the Scarecrows
The Scarecrows’ inability to get any good scoring chances on the powerplay were one of the defining differences in this game. Only on their first powerplay of 5 chances, they get a solid shot on net. The subsequent Scarecrow powerplays in the game were largely unsuccessful and consisted of many passes which did generated little to no shots on net. Basil Magnicotta of the Scarecrows was one of the main problems as the play seemed to die whenever he touched the puck on the PP. Magnicotta had 4 shots and missed the net 3 times and had one of his other shots deflected by the Whalers. Overall, the Scarecrows only had 2 real shots out of the 5 chances they had on the powerplay.

Z0REM · 08-29-2019, 08:50 AM

Faceoff Wins
This game was dead even right up to the last minute. There were 97 in this matchup as both teams vied for control of the puck. The Whalers came away the tiniest of edges with 49 wins on the faceoff for a percentage of 51% while the Scarecrows came away with 48 wins for 49%. The difference here is practically negligible as it really should just be seen as a 50/50 split. We really have to talk about the 2nd lines center for the Scarecros, Jakub Bruchevski. This guy was winning the crucial faceoffs while their 1st line center seemed to be having an off day. Jakub won 15/26 faceoffs for a 58% win percentage. If he can maintain being there in the clutch we might see some line shifts late in the season as this man definitely earned some recognition this game.

Physical Play Comparison
Let us breakdown the physical play here because I think that best highlights why the Whalers almost took this in overtime over the Scarecrows. The hits for both teams were also almost dead even with the Whalers delivering 19 and the Scarecrows giving out 18, but the similarities stop there. The Whalers gave everything for this win putting up 5 more shots blocked over the Crows with 13 over 8 respectively. Yet even with the difference in the physical play, the Crows put up more penalties. We’ll take clean physical play here at the analyst’s desk over physicality born out of frustration. These crows will fly again though. Mark our words.

Credit to Vulfzilla for the awesome render pic

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