Bulls Lose Fourth Straight As They Fall To Alaska: Game Recap
San Francisco Bulls v Alaska Aces, March 8, 2013 – photo courtesy of Mike Tkacheff via the San Francisco Bulls Web Page – SFBulls.com
The Bulls lost their fourth straight game as they fall to the Aces three to two. The Bulls again drop another one goal game to the Aces following a goal mid way through the third. Yanni Gourde had his second straight game with a goal as he tied the game in the first. Bryan Cameron had the Bulls second goal early in the third. They Bulls power play again again struggled as they went zero for six on the night. Taylor Nelson stopped 26 of 29 shots as he had relatively solid night in the net.
First Period:
The first period started off with a bang as there were two fights inside the first five minutes of the game. The first came just a minute and a half in when Ian Schultz dropped the gloves with Dustin Molle and the second came three minutes later as Mikael Tam squared off with Chris Clackson. A few minute later Schultz would give the Aces their first power play of the night. The Bulls would successfully kill of the penalty as the remained scoreless. Roughly after the midway point of the period the Aces struck first. Alexandre Imbeault beat Nelson over his shoulder for the first goal of the game and his 17th on the season. Shortly after the goal, the Bulls would get a chance a full five on three power play. The anemic Bulls power play again struggled to produce a goal even with the two man advantage. The Bulls would answer back right before the end of the period as Yanni Gourde would score for the second straight game giving him three goals in his six games as a Bull. The Bulls out shot the Aces 11 to eight.
Second Period:
The second period would be penalty filled as both teams combined for six power plays in the period. The Bulls were given a golden opportunity to take control of the game as they were given three straight power plays back to back, but the power play unit was unable to capitalize on the chances and it would come back to haunt them. Shortly after the third power play the Bulls gave the Aces a chance with the man advantage. It would not take long as the Aces scored just 14 seconds into the power play. Nick Mazzolini was left alone in front of the net and he was easily able to beat Nelson for his 33rd goal of the season. The Bulls would take another penalty shortly after, but would kill of this penalty keeping the game at one. The would get another chance on the power play, but they were unable to score on their sixth try of the night. The Aces out shot the Bulls 12 to 10 on the period.
Third Period:
The Bulls would try to battle back as they trailed two to one heading into the third. They would get their answer quickly as Bryan Cameron would knot the game up at 2:51 into the period. Cameron’s goal was his 18th on the year. The Aces would regain the lead shortly before the midway point with Alex Hudson beating Nelson for his 11th of the year. The Bulls would try and battle back to tie the game for a third time, but Aces’ goalie Gerald Coleman would shut the door has he preserved the one goal victory. The Bulls out shot the Aces 11 to nine in the period and 32 to 29 on the evening.
The Bulls lost the special teams battle, which was the difference in the game. The Bulls had six power play chances, including a full five on three midway through the first. The power play now only has a single goal in its last 36 attempts. The penalty kill was not great as they killed off two of the three chances for the Aces. Yanni Gourde continues his hot play as he now has six points in six games as he added his third goal of the season. Bryan Cameron added the other Bulls goal for his 18th on the season. The Bulls at 21-33-7 are now six points behind Utah for seventh, while the Aces improve to 45-12-6 and push their lead to eight points. These two teams meet again tonight as they wrap up their three game series.
Three Stars:
- Alex Hudson – Alaska
- Evan Trupp – Alaska
- Gerald Coleman – Alaska