GAME 25: HCB VS OLL

 BOLZANO 4 - 3 OLIMPIJA

DRAGONS OUTPLAY FOXES BUT UNFORCED ERRORS CONTINUE

ANOTHER ONE WE DESERVE TO WIN BITES THE DUST

Lineup changes

- I've heard all sorts of contradictory stories about why Horak isn't travelling with the team. To be honest, I am happy with Kolin starting away games. We need to manage Horak's workload better if we plan on making it to the playoffs. It's also nice for Kavčič to travel with the team as a backup.

- The lines have been thrown in a bit of a blender following the bad performance last game.

- Simšič is playing wing again, Bonino and Lavoie have been moved up to the 2nd line. 

- Tomaževič is down to the 3rd, Mahkovec is up to the 1st.

- As for defenders, Ege is demoted to the 3rd and Ćosić is promoted to the 2nd, alongside Gregorc. This means we have two lefties, but clearly Ege is in the doghouse.

Stars of the game

* Luka Kolin - excellent play tonight, again really impressive in place of Horak. Our losses are certainly not down to our goaltenders.

** Nick Bonino and Alex Lavoie - what a fine duo these two have become. Of course, it's not surprising that having a double Stanley Cup winner on your line will help you out, but Lavoie has really started popping with Bonino on the ice. I look forward to seeing more of this duo.

*** Robert Sabolič - scored a Captain's goal to help drag the team back into contention. I miss Pavlin but Sabla can be a fine stand-in (if he is a bit more careful with his mid-game interviews...). If you need any English lessons, Sabla, hit me up!

Stats

Shots-saves:

P1 10-10 (GG for HCB)

P2 10-17 (GGG for OLL)

P3 2-13 (GG for HCB)

These numbers are pretty amusing. A really even first period? 2-0 for HCB. A seemingly-dominant 2nd period for HCB? They concede three unanswered. It was only the monstrous 3rd period that bore out the pressure indicated by the saves and lack of shots for Olimpija. Despite that, I still think we should have won - and would have won, without some bone-headed turnovers.

PK 3/3 = 100%

PP 0/1 = 0%

Special teams did well once more.

Shooting %: 13.63. On the higher side.

Save %: 40/44 = 90.9. A quality start from Kolin (anything above 90% counts).

Game flow

I wrote a lot of notes but I'll keep it to the basics for expediency's sake.

P1 

1704 PEN OLL

Ege hook. Good start, Wyatt ;( 

Crnović, Ćosić, Bonino and Pance start on the penalty kill. Look at that forward experience!

1448 Kolin saves the usual goal chance we give up as the penalty expires.

We've started a lot more dangerously and look a lot more solid.

945 GOAL BOLZANO

Crnović is pickpocketed fumbling at the boards and Atwal yet again fails to take the stick of the man at the net front, who scores.

Here's a quote from a hockey textbook I just got from Mladinska Knjiga (please sponsor me, Emka - you and Hala Tivoli are my favourite places in Slovenia): "the defender should take the opponent's stick first and then look to respond to the loose puck...when the puck is in the net area, the priority is stick and body position". That's from Hockey Plays and Strategies by Johnston and Walter, 2nd ed. Apparently the guys could do with reading that!

1-0

859 GOAL BOLZANO

Here we go again... HCB make it look easy - Ege and Simšič are roundly beaten on a rush.

Remember what I said about expecting double figures if we defend like we did before? Strap in?!

2-0

4 Offensive link up play looks crisp - we're just getting cooked the other way. We have to find a better balance between this offensive creation and commitment and defensive presence and solidity. If in doubt, Coach, simplify...

2 Bolzano make a big hit at the blue line - proving you are allowed to do it in this league, we just never partake...

2-0

P2

1940 Atwal lifted a stick! Praise be!

1619 GOAL OLIMPIJA

After many Kolin saves, Sabolič takes the bull by the horns and beats the Bolzano blocker after a fly-by screen from Mahkovec. Well in, skipper!

1258 GOAL OLIMPIJA

Lavoie sets it back to Bonino, who one-times it into the top corner! That's an NHL play, as the announcer go 'Mr NHL'. Mašič ends up getting the goal credit as it rippled his jersey on the way past, but make no mistake - this was Bonino's. Boom!

2-2

That's two goals on 4 shots this period!

739 Kerbashian is tripped but no call. Possibly evening out an earlier non-call on a Bohinc trip. Not sure that's how you're meant to call it though, refs... 

Stream goes into slo-mo and becomes quite trippy for a couple of minutes.

227 HCB hit the post.

31s left GOAL OLIMPIJA

Valentine takes a puck back towards his own goal and slips over, and Kapel greedily snaps it up and dishes it out to Zajc, who rifles it home. This is beautiful karma for his uncalled boarding of Kale in our last game!

2-3

0s left... As time expires, Ege crosschecks a HCB forward entering the zone.

PEN OLL - Ege crosscheck.

Thanks, Wyatt! (Not trying to rag on the guy but come on now)

2-3

P3

1839 Net front hack and whack - Bonino gets down on the floor and blocks it with his chest!

1415 2nd line is flourishing with Bonino's range of passing - Lavoie is an especial beneficiary. Simšič not so much.

1339 GOAL BOLZANO

Gregorc turns it over in the neutral zone with a weird soft pass. This leads to a 2 on 1. Ćosić and Kolin get beaten 5 hole. Unforced errors continue.

946 PEN OLL

Beričič holds on a rush to deny a shot.

601 - we get our second shot of the period after nearly 14 minutes of play...

246 GOAL BOLZANO

A Bolzano centre breaks a stick on a faceoff, but we let HCB keep possession, regroup and cycle - they score on a post screen. So deflating.

4-3

146 PEN HCB

High stick.

HCB hits the post on the empty net and then misses.

Empty net for 6 on 4 but we just pass it around for ages, even with less than 10 seconds to go. Not infuriating at all!

Final thoughts 

This was better - but frustrations remain. It must be nice to have the kind of consistency and resilience as Bolzano, where you had the nagging feeling that they'd come back and win. Olimpija deserved at least a point and overtime, but we crumbled in the 3rd period. That 2-13 shots-saves (at even strength) is damning. 

It's nice to play well and lose, and much better than playing badly and losing. However, the table doesn't care if you do or don't - it's still a fat zero points acquired. After a strong start to the season, we have rapidly fallen back into the play-in scramble that we were in last year. Time to start digging ourselves out of it, as the playoff race has heated up and taken off without us these past few weeks.