I hadn't seen the Flames yet this year and was totally surprised when
they came out and dominated the early going against the Falcons. When
the Flames have the puck in the offensive zone, they can move it around
well and are quick skaters. But BG and goalie Bob Petrie withstood the
pressure in the opening period (only down 1-0) and started to turn the
tide. In their own end, the Flames are totally different players,
whiffing on passes, and sluggish. BG capitalized 3 times in the later
stages of the period to be up 3-1 after one.
 
The Flames came back against an uninterested Falcon squad in the third
to tie it up. I think Petrie only saved 3 of the 5 shots he faced, and
the two he let in were from far away. But BG got a power play late and
scored to go up 4-3 after two.
 
Then in the third, the UIC team of lore took the ice. Midway thru the
third, they started taking a slew of penalties. I think BG scored 3
straight PPGs to pull away.
 
For the Falcons, Mike Johnson had 2 goals and several assists and missed
his hat on a short-handed breakaway. Glantz and Lune also had a pair, with
So. Def Todd Kelman netting his first collegiate goal. Brian Holzinger
was shadowed very well by Mike Peron, but still managed a goal in the
third. Matt Brenner had 2 goals for the Flames.
 
UIC tender Adam Lord played well and had over 35 saves, but looked
completely helpless in the third period. After the game, he started
shaking hands right away and was off the ice before most of his
teammates had even made it halfway thru the line.
 
Petrie was good during the opening barage, but then was barely adequate
the rest of the way, with about 20 saves total.
 
Curtis Fry missed the game because of an injury, probably caused by the
Andrusiak hit in the Friday game, but I am not sure.
 
BGSU is now 4 points ahead of Michigan and three ahead of MSU in the league
standings, with several more games played. The Falcons have a real chance
to widen their margin against those two teams next week, as they face
OSU and Miami, while U of M goes to the Soo and MSU is idle. (MSU is at
LSSU tomorrow, Monday.)
 
Keith