Bulls Embarrassed As They Wrap Up Road Trip: Game Recap
San Francisco Bulls v Las Vegas Wranglers March 1, 2013 – photo courtesy of Stephen Sylvanie via the Las Vegas Sun web page – lasvegassun.com
The San Francisco end their road trip on a sour not as they get crushed by the Las Vegas Wranglers. The Bulls could not stop the Wranglers attack all game on the way to the six to two defeat. The Wranglers had a pair of four point scorers as Scott Pitt had one goal and three assists and Andrew Sarauer had four assists. Taylor Nelson had a night to forget as he did not make it out of the first as he gave up three goals on just 10 shots in the period. Thomas Heemskerk also surrendered three in relief as he stopped 33 of 36 shots.
First Period:
The Bulls would get off to the worst start possible as the Wranglers would jump all over them in the first. The Wranglers would jump out to the early lead as Scott Pitt would score his 11th of the season at the 6:07 mark of the first. Christian Ouellet would take the first penalty of the game giving Las Vegas their first power play. The Wranglers would carry over their success as Jamie Fristch would put them ahead by two with his third goal of the season. Ouellet would take another penalty right before the end of the period and would get hit with another two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Sean Wiles would make the Bulls pay as he put the home team up by three with his 22nd goal of the season. That third goal would chase Taylor Nelson after only 10 shots. The Wranglers out shot the Bulls 12 to six.
Second Period:
The second period would see much of the same as the Wranglers dominated the possession. The second would start with some fireworks as Scott Langdon would drop the mitts with Robbie Smith. The Bulls would get a power play chance shortly after, but again the power play was unable to get anything going. The Bulls would then take back to back penalties, but are able to kill of both as the penalty kill regains its form. Shortly following a Las Vegas penalty the Wranglers would extend their lead to four as Chris Francis scored his18th of the season. Thomas Heemskerk would play despite the pressure he faced in the period as he stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced. The Wranglers out shot the Bulls 18 to nine.
Third Period:
The third period would see a strong offensive period for both teams, but for the Bulls it would be too little, too late. The Wranglers would add another goal to their lead as Sean Wiles would get his second of the game just inside six minutes into the third. Tristan King would put the Bulls on the board midway through the third with his 20th on season. Bryan Cameron and Jordan Clendenning would get credit for the assists. Just a minute late the Bulls would get their second Simon Denis-Pepin would get his fourth of the year. Dean Ouellet and Peter Sivak would add the assists. Chris Francis would wrap up the game with his second of the game giving the Wranglers a six to two victory. The Wranglers out shot the Bulls 16 to 13 in the period and 46 to 28 on the game.
It was simply an awful game played by the Bulls. They struggled in every single aspect of the game as poor goalie play and poor special teams put this team into a deep hole they were never able to climb out. The offense never got going until the third as they got 13 of their 28 shots in the period. Tristan King and Simon Denis-Pepin scored the only two goals on the evening as they came within a minute of each other midway through the third. Both goalies played as Taylor Nelson gave up three goals in just 19 minutes as he was pulled in favor of Thomas Heemskerk, who performed slightly better as he also surrendered three goals, but he also faced 36 shots through just 41 minutes of play. The Bulls fall to 21-31-7, while the Wranglers improve to 31-24-5. The Bulls return to the Cow Palace for a four game stretch starting Wednesday as they kick off a three game set with the Alaska Aces.
Three Stars:
- Scott Pitt – Las Vegas
- Sean Wiles – Las Vegas
- Andrew Sarauer – Las Vegas