The Rage dropped to 3-6-1 on the season after losing two of three games to the Kenai River Brown Bears this weekend.
One night after posting an emotional 5-4 overtime victory off the stick of Brett Zarazun, the Rage jumped out to a 2-0 lead last night against Kenai, but a second period goal by B. Murphy and two third period tallies, one by Chris Rial on a partial breakaway cutting in on the left side and tucking it five-hole through Edward Dyson, then Carter Wright sent in clear on a breakaway by Brett Lubanski going forehand, backhand and shelf gave Kenai a 3-2 victory.
The Rage will now head out on an 11-game road trip with stops in Alaska, Kenai, Fresno and Wenatchee before returning to host Fresno on November 12th.
Meanwhile, the DC Jr. Canucks had two close games this weekend, edging the GP Wheelers 5-4 on Friday and getting edged in turn by the Beaverlodge Blades on Saturday by a score of 4-3. With the FSJ Huskies leading the league with three straight wins and six points, the Canucks will look to snap that streak this Friday at the DC Memorial Arena at 8pm, you can catch the action on Peace FM (dot c-a).
Monday, October 4, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Kenai River Brown Bears v Dawson Creek Rage Pre-Game
This is the second of a three-game set between the Kenai River Brown Bears and the DC Rage. Last night Kenai edged the Rage 3-2. Both teams started out flat in the first period and got a fortunate couple of goals in an affair that definitely did not see the fast past action from last week's set of games against the Alaska Avs, and you can look for both teams to come out with a stronger start in tonight's game.
Assistant coach for the DC Rage, Matt Hughes, definitely feels as though the momentum was sucked right out of the Rage last night with Kenai's patient play in the neutral zone.
Meanwhile head coach for the Brown Bears Oliver David admitted that both teams were a bit flat coming out of the gate but that his team was able to control the pace and use their speed and skill to their advantage. When asked whether he anticipates his club will change anything with 60 more minutes of familiarity with the Rage, he said he doesn't plan on adjusting his team's game.
Keys to the Game:
Rage:
1. Establish the home-ice advantage. They opened the scoring last night but had the momentum sucked out of them five minutes later on Daniel Turgeon's goal. They need to get a quick one or two goals and keep the pressure.
2. In that vein, they need to re-establish the physical presence that forced turnovers in the series against Alaska, which was totally absent last night.
3. Outlet pass. Last night they had trouble exiting their zone cleanly and breaking into the offensive zone.
Kenai:
1. Keep the Rage to the outside, force shots from the point. Benton didn't see a lot of second chances last night and I thought at times he looked a bit out of position, and they'll want to keep that support for their netminder.
2. Win the cycle. The chances that the Rage did get last night started largely on their cycle game and freeing up space in front by forcing the Bears to commit too long to the cycle and bring the extra man in. They need to win the cycle early and break out.
3. Transition. Kenai had a great transition game last night when they did win the cycle early, and that'll be key for them to get a couple quick goals.
Officials:
Referee: Kevin Lindsay
Lines: Brent McLean, Michale Van
Starting lineups:
Rage: Jared Crema and Bobby Turnbull manning the blueline, Dakota Mason centering Nolan Rossiter and Derek Johnston.
Kenai: Erik Persson and Chris Rial on defense, Brett Lubanski between Matt Tompson and Doug Beck.
Starting goalies:
Rage: Andrew Walsh, 0-4-0-0, 2.5.2 gaa, .938 sv
Kenai: Josh Benton, 3-2-0-1, 2.26 gaa, .917 sv
Assistant coach for the DC Rage, Matt Hughes, definitely feels as though the momentum was sucked right out of the Rage last night with Kenai's patient play in the neutral zone.
Meanwhile head coach for the Brown Bears Oliver David admitted that both teams were a bit flat coming out of the gate but that his team was able to control the pace and use their speed and skill to their advantage. When asked whether he anticipates his club will change anything with 60 more minutes of familiarity with the Rage, he said he doesn't plan on adjusting his team's game.
Keys to the Game:
Rage:
1. Establish the home-ice advantage. They opened the scoring last night but had the momentum sucked out of them five minutes later on Daniel Turgeon's goal. They need to get a quick one or two goals and keep the pressure.
2. In that vein, they need to re-establish the physical presence that forced turnovers in the series against Alaska, which was totally absent last night.
3. Outlet pass. Last night they had trouble exiting their zone cleanly and breaking into the offensive zone.
Kenai:
1. Keep the Rage to the outside, force shots from the point. Benton didn't see a lot of second chances last night and I thought at times he looked a bit out of position, and they'll want to keep that support for their netminder.
2. Win the cycle. The chances that the Rage did get last night started largely on their cycle game and freeing up space in front by forcing the Bears to commit too long to the cycle and bring the extra man in. They need to win the cycle early and break out.
3. Transition. Kenai had a great transition game last night when they did win the cycle early, and that'll be key for them to get a couple quick goals.
Officials:
Referee: Kevin Lindsay
Lines: Brent McLean, Michale Van
Starting lineups:
Rage: Jared Crema and Bobby Turnbull manning the blueline, Dakota Mason centering Nolan Rossiter and Derek Johnston.
Kenai: Erik Persson and Chris Rial on defense, Brett Lubanski between Matt Tompson and Doug Beck.
Starting goalies:
Rage: Andrew Walsh, 0-4-0-0, 2.5.2 gaa, .938 sv
Kenai: Josh Benton, 3-2-0-1, 2.26 gaa, .917 sv
Friday, October 1, 2010
DC Rage lose 3-2 to Kenai River Brown Bears
Couldn't get the pre-game up, internet at the rink wasn't letting me access blogger, so here's the post game.
My keys to the game were:
Rage:
1. Stay out of the penalty box. That's what got them into trouble last weekend with the Avs and if they have hopes to get out of this series with a positive record, they need to worry less about their PK and more about 5-on-5 hockey.
2. Keep physical. The American game is stressing speed in this league and the Rage can force turnovers by getting to pucks first on defenders and pressure them with hits.
3. Strong goaltending: right now it would be a huge lift for the Rage to get a massive performance from one of their goalies. They aren't struggling in the crease, but it'll help build momentum.
Kenai
1. Box out. The Rage so far have shown that they like to pressure the slot and crash the crease. They'll have to be big in front of their goaltender and force the Rage to play on the outside.
2. Utilize the wings. If Keenai has the same speed the Avs showed, they should be able to turn defenders by breaking wide.
3. Win special teams. Right now the Rage are operating pretty well when one-man short, and a powerplay goal can swing the ice the other way.
Rage succeeded in staying out of the box, only allowing three man-advantages compared to the basically five per game minimum last weekend, and they didn't allow a PP goal against, but their physical play was lacking and Dyson unfortunately got caught with a poke-check that missed and essentially allowed the third goal. Dyson was otherwise very strong through the game.
Kenai did a great job of cutting off all angles to the net, and started to use the wings in the second period and really controlled most of the possession after losing the majority of the draws in the first. They overall lost the special teams battle, allowing one PPG on two opportunities but otherwise controlled the pace.
Dakota Mason notched both goals for the Rage, one in the first period that was responded by Bears' forward Daniel Turgeon five minutes later. Doug Beck put the Bears up early in the second frame. Eventually Mason would find a fortuitious bounce off a Nolan Rossiter shot that caromed off the stick of Trent Wohlers, leaving Mason with a wide-open net on that netminder Josh Benton had no chance on. But late in the third, Zack Capozza found an equally fortunate chance off a scramble behind the net that gave Kenai the win.
DC was outshot 36-31 in the game. The second match of the three-game set is Saturday night at 7pm, with the third at 2pm on Sunday.
My keys to the game were:
Rage:
1. Stay out of the penalty box. That's what got them into trouble last weekend with the Avs and if they have hopes to get out of this series with a positive record, they need to worry less about their PK and more about 5-on-5 hockey.
2. Keep physical. The American game is stressing speed in this league and the Rage can force turnovers by getting to pucks first on defenders and pressure them with hits.
3. Strong goaltending: right now it would be a huge lift for the Rage to get a massive performance from one of their goalies. They aren't struggling in the crease, but it'll help build momentum.
Kenai
1. Box out. The Rage so far have shown that they like to pressure the slot and crash the crease. They'll have to be big in front of their goaltender and force the Rage to play on the outside.
2. Utilize the wings. If Keenai has the same speed the Avs showed, they should be able to turn defenders by breaking wide.
3. Win special teams. Right now the Rage are operating pretty well when one-man short, and a powerplay goal can swing the ice the other way.
Rage succeeded in staying out of the box, only allowing three man-advantages compared to the basically five per game minimum last weekend, and they didn't allow a PP goal against, but their physical play was lacking and Dyson unfortunately got caught with a poke-check that missed and essentially allowed the third goal. Dyson was otherwise very strong through the game.
Kenai did a great job of cutting off all angles to the net, and started to use the wings in the second period and really controlled most of the possession after losing the majority of the draws in the first. They overall lost the special teams battle, allowing one PPG on two opportunities but otherwise controlled the pace.
Dakota Mason notched both goals for the Rage, one in the first period that was responded by Bears' forward Daniel Turgeon five minutes later. Doug Beck put the Bears up early in the second frame. Eventually Mason would find a fortuitious bounce off a Nolan Rossiter shot that caromed off the stick of Trent Wohlers, leaving Mason with a wide-open net on that netminder Josh Benton had no chance on. But late in the third, Zack Capozza found an equally fortunate chance off a scramble behind the net that gave Kenai the win.
DC was outshot 36-31 in the game. The second match of the three-game set is Saturday night at 7pm, with the third at 2pm on Sunday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)