It was billed as a battle of the giants at the showcase last weekend, since then the Portage Terriers have taken a three point edge on the Blues in the Addison division and the Blues now sit seven points back of the OCN Blizzard.
It will still be a tough test, the Blues are a good team with tons of offensive firepower.
The Blizzard come into tonight's game with a record of 8-1-1 good for 17 points and first overall in the league standings, the Blues meanwhile sit at 5-3 for 10 points and second in the Addison division.
The Blues are on a three game losing skid after suffering losses to Virden, Neepawa and a spanking by Winkler 7-3 last night.
TRENDS
The Blues strength lies in their offensive power having scored a league leading 38 goals on the season but have allowed an average of 3.62 goals against in their 8 games this season their goaltenders also have a combined save percentage of just .879%
In their last three losses the Blues have allowed a total of 16 goals and scored 11 themselves.
Meanwhile for the OCN Blizzard their last three games have all been decided by just one goal. The first a 2-1 SO win over Portage, followed by a 3-2 win over Dauphin on Tuesday and last nights 3-2 OT loss to Selkirk.
In that time frame the Blizzard allowed six goals and scored six themselves (SO winner doesn't count).
The Blizzards strength of late has been in goal as the offence has not been as dominant as it was earlier in the season. The Blizzard's combined save percentage is first in the league at .956%.
TOP SCORERS
OCN - Thomas Ward-Cardinal (4G, 6A, 10PTS), Tyler Grove (3G, 6A, 9PTS), TJ Constant (3G, 6A, 9PTS)
WPG - Jake Heisinger (3G, 9A, 12PTS), Connor Cleverly (6G, 4A, 10PTS), Jeremy Olinyk (4G, 6A, 10PTS)
HOW THEY STACK UP
Goals For:
OCN - 33
WPG - 38
Goals Against:
OCN - 18
WPG - 29
Goal Differential:
OCN - +15
WPG - + 5
Powerplay:
OCN - 4/33 (12.12%) 10th overall
WPG - 7/47 (14.89%) 8th overall
Penalty Kill:
OCN - 52/57 (91.23%) 1st overall
WPG - 39/45 (86.67%) 3rd overall
Should be an entertaining game tonight with two high octane teams going at it.
I feel the Blizzards are doing a great job, just need to stay out of the penalty box so their offense has time to kick in. About Stagg, he was told by the coaches he has the ability to play Jr. A. Maybe the coaches told Brad something different or it is his own opinion that Stagg doesn't have the ability. Don't know about Bigplume, never saw him play. Stagg is playing Jr. B and getting ice time which will help him develop his skills, rather than sitting out or getting 2 shifts a game with OCN. Feel this is better and he would be ready when AP'd.
ReplyDeleteThe OCN rookies are doing great. They need time on the ice to get experience so they will be ready to help out the team when it comes down to the crunch.