Wildcats vs. Bandits live blog, October 5

Hello again everyone, the B2 Network is still not not functional because of a faulty cord, so I'll be live blogging this one again. So, if you're going to be reading along, welcome once again. Keep hitting your refresh button and new updates will appear just below this intro. So if you are reading this after the fact, read from the bottom of this blog upward.

Questions, comments, feel free to IM me. I'm on AIM, screen name is WildcatsHockey73.

4:25 pm - Well, that one was... well, it was what it was. Final score 7-4. Wildcats play again October 24 with the home opener vs. Springfield.

4:24 pm - Breakaway chance for Hill late, but Kincaid stacks the pads, and the Cats can't bury the loose puck. Tempers flare again, off go Bourgonje and Hill for charging and high sticking, respectively.

4:22 pm - Tempers flare late, shoving match in front of the STL net, matching minors to Quick and Olszewski for roughing.

4:17 pm - And again... Loose puck in front off a rebound, and Jordan Bourgonje roofs it. Power play goal, it's 7-4. Assists to Klein and Bertsch.

4:16 pm - Tempers flare, delayed penalty comes, whistle blows, and everyone piles into the corner. Heinz gets the original 2 for hooking, plus matching minors to Cahill for checking from behind and Reinthaler for roughing.

4:11 pm - Back to 5-on-5. Somehow the scoring is Hill from Cahill and McKenzie, though it was definitely Heinz that touched it last before Hill.

4:10 pm - Matching minors, Hoffman elbowing, McNeil charging.

4:08 pm - FINALLY! Heinz doesn't get much on his shot but it comes right to Hill and he finds the back of the net, cutting the deficit to 2, 6-4. 1:30 remaining on the Cats PP.

4:07 pm - Bandits penalty on Patrick Sheehan, Cats up 5 on 3 for 48 seconds.

4:05 pm - Huge chance at the other end, puck in front, McKenzie gets it and fires off a quick one... and somehow Kincaid sprawls out and gets it. Coffey to the box for a slash, Cats on the PP.

4:04 pm - Son of a... Odd-man rush, Jarboe stopped the first shot, but there's only so much you can do. Bandits put in the rebound and it's 6-3. Greco from Kirchhevel and Hamburg.

4:01 pm - Back to 5-on-5, just over 11 minutes to go,

3:58 pm - Wildcats back on the PK, Opie to the box for slashing. Not what we need right now...

3:57 pm - Nice move that sent Kincaid sprawling, but a good poke check by as he was going down keeps it a 5-3 game.

3:56 pm - PENALTY SHOT WILDCATS! Shaun Jameson...

3:54 pm - Five minutes into the third and the Bandits have the only two shots on goal of the period. And they scored on the first of them.

3:51 pm - Kirchhevel from Hamburg and Reinthaler is the official scoring.

3:50 pm - Defense caught napping again, and it's 5-3. Man. Someone want to wake up out there? Hello?

3:47 pm - McNeil has another 43 seconds to serve on his misconduct. Also, no sign of Broderick Browne back on the bench after a high stick in the first period. Hartung and Coffey are serving the delay of game minors, not Kenline and Jonzzon as the boxscore says.

3:38 pm - Looks like Jonzzon and Kenline will each get 2 for delay of game from everything at the end of the period, or so says Pointstreak.

3:32 pm - Frustrations seem to be building for both teams, Bandits for a poor first period, Wildcats for a poor second. Should make for a good third, hopefully with the Wildcats getting back what they've given up.

3:31 pm - Jarboe leaves out a huge rebound and Olszewski fires it past him. 4-3 now. This one is shaping up like last night, with the wheels falling off in the second. As the final buzzer sounds, Hartung and Coffey get in a shoving match as everyone is leaving the benches for the locker rooms (locker room hallway is on the opposite side of the ice from the benches here, so both teams have to cross the ice to head off between periods). A few extra players who had been on the benches come over but the linesmen restore order quickly as both teams head off. We'll see if any extra penalties come up, though I doubt they will.

3:26 pm - Bandits tie it up. Even strength goal from Rashid, assists to Jonzzen and Olszewski. It's 3-3 now.

3:21 pm - Official call on McNeil was an abuse of officials misconduct with the high sticking call.

3:20 pm - Bandits outshooting the Cats in the 2nd, 12-6 so far.

3:18 pm - Dome shot! Hartung puts one off Kincaid's helmet and up and into the netting.

3:17 pm - Big save by Jarboe with a Bandit streaking in backdoor. Goal was Bourbonais from Allen on the PP.

3:16 pm - Cahill out of the box and back to the bench. So it seems McNeil may have gotten a 10 after the high stick. We'll try to get more details on this, but either way it's 5-on-5 and McNeil is the lone man in the box.

3:15 pm - Cahill to the box now off the bench, but still 5 on 4. Likely a misconduct of some form.

3:13 pm - Bandits score on the first penalty, so they stay up a man for another 56 seconds. 3-2 now, scoring coming in a moment, with 9:19 remaining in the period.

3:11 pm - Reinthaler just took a stick to the face from McNeil. Only two minutes, but he was down for a bit. Bandits have the two man advantage.

3:10 pm - Holy deflection, Batman! Great save by Jarboe in traffic, keeps it 3-1.

3:09 pm - PK time again, Heinz off for interference.

3:08 pm - Shoving after the play, Brown and Bertsch come together. Brown loses the gloves and helmet... Bertsch doesn't. He had the gloves off and seemed to be trying to get his helmet off when the linesmen stepped in and said no way. Both to the box, delay of game. Let 'em go ref!

3:03 pm - Back to 5-on-5, good kill for the Bandits.

3:01 pm - STL returns a man.

3:00 pm - Hill dumped to the ice in front, holding is the call on Patrick Sheehan. 5 on 3 for 1:22!

2:59 pm - STL penalty to Gorczyca for checking from behind. 2 second of PP time for the Cats, then 31 seconds of 4 on 4, then just under 1:30 of PP time again.

2:57 pm - Great chance for the Cats with Delaurell and McKenzie but a huge save post to post by Kincaid.

2:56 pm - Four seconds in, McNeil goes to the box for hooking. We skate 4 on 4.

2:53 pm - Officials are on the ice, followed by the Wildcats and now the Bandits! Let's get this second period going!

2:40 pm - Greco tripping, Kenline and Coffey each 4 for roughing. Cats on the PP. Bandits goal was Gorczyca from the Sheehans. End of the first, score is 3-1 Wildcats! WF outshooting STL 16-8 after 1.

2:36 pm - Here we go, Quick vs. Allen off the draw, Quick dominates with the rights, even gets Allen spun around so he can land at-will. Aaron Quick with a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. In the first friggin' period no less!

2:34 pm - Off the faceoff, didn't see what started it, but Coffey shoves Shost and Kenline comes in, gloves fly, they wrestle around a bit and fall to the ice. Coffey is the only one lacking gloves and his helmet. :27 left in the period, we'll have the penalties and scoring from the PPG at 19:30 in a few moments.

2:33 pm - Cats return a man, but the Bandits score with :30 left in the period. 3-1 is our score.

2:31 pm - Players come together, Hartung got in and bumped Kincaid and his helmet goes flying. Hartung off for charging, no penalties from the brief scrum. 5-on-3 for 53 seconds.

2:30 pm - PK time again, Trotman to the box for interference on what looked to me (and everyone on the Wildcats bench) to be a clean hit on the puck carrier. Apparently we were wrong. By the way, before the penalty, Trotman and McKenzie each had a good two solid hits each on their shift.

2:27 pm - Brown and Kirchhevel get matching minors for delay of game from a little shoving match after Jarboe covers up a loose puck. Bandits with 2 SOG so far on their power play, 4 for the entire period. Wildcats have put an astonishing 12 shots on Cinotti, but none yet on Kincaid. We're back to 5-on-5!

2:24 pm - Cats on the PK, Nash off for tripping.

2:22 pm - Opie from Kenline and Quick is the scoring. First NAHL goal for Tim Opie, and Matt Kenline and Aaron Quick each have a two-point afternoon!

2:17 pm - BIG BEN STRIKES THREE! Even strength goal, official scoring coming soon. With 11:49 to go in the first, Cinotti is pulled in favor of Kincaid.

2:14 pm - GOAL! Power Play goal with 5 seconds left on the first penalty, so we have another 54 seconds of PP time. Goal goes to Kyle Delaurell, assists to Erlacher and Jameson.

2:13 pm - Two-man advantage for the Cats, Patrick Sheehan off for high sticking. Note that he is in the lineup in place of Bradley Nunn, so if you're scoring at home, change your lineup cards.

2:12 pm - Wildcats on the power play as Allen goes to the box for slashing.

2:11 pm - Excellent puck movement by the Bandits leads to a chance, but Gorczyca's pass cross ice was a little too far for Sheehan.

2:10 pm - Cats' defense is looking better here early on in this one in spite of a couple odd-man rushes. Hopefully it keeps up, as this was the biggest problem last night.

2:07 pm - GOAL! Aaron Quick's first NAHL goal puts the Wildcats up 1-0! Assist goes to Matt Kenline.

2:06 pm - Heinz's pass for Quick just a little long, icing call brings the faceoff back to the WF end.

2:05 pm - Blocked shot off the stick of Jason Nash leads to a 3-on-1 for STL, well defended by Shaun Jameson and the Bandits don't manage anything.

2:03 pm - We're underway! Opening faceoff controlled by the Cats!

2:02 pm - Minutes away from starting this game up, your officials are referee Greene, and linesmen Bethmann and Montgomery.

1:58 pm - Another look at how the special teams units stack up against each other:

WF Power Play: 14/41, 34.2%, #1 in the league

STL Penalty Kill: 45/52, 86.5%, #5 in the league

STL Power Play: 6/48, 12.5%, #13 in the league

WF Penalty Kill: 23/27, 85.2%, #7 in the league

All three of the Wildcats' goals last night came with the man advantage, while 1 of the Bandits' 5 goals came on the power play.

1:50 pm - Lines appear to be as follows, starters in bold:

WICHITA FALLS
Erlacher - McKenzie - Hartung
Browne - McNeil - Delaurell
Kenline - Opie - Quick
Brown - Cahill - Hill

Jameson - Nash
Kaneshiro - Trotman
Shost - Heinz

Jarboe
Graveline

ST. LOUIS

Olszewski - B. Sheehan - Gorczyca
Hamburg - Greco - Kirchhevel
Jonzzon - Bourbonais - Rashid
Bertsch - Bourgonje - Klein

Reinthaler - Quick
Allen - Coffey
Hoffman - Nunn

Cinotti
Kincaid

1:22 pm - Puck drops at 2 pm this afternoon, so we're just under 40 minutes out. The Zamboni is working on the ice, players will start warmups in a few minutes. I'll get the lines and D pairings posted once they start warming up!