Alaska Aces goalie Mark Guggenberger corrals a shot on goal by the Bulls' Dean Oullet in the Aces' 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Bulls Wednesday night. (Scot Tucker/SFBay)
COW PALACE — Quite possibly the biggest question heading into Wednesday night’s San Francisco Bulls game after two weeks on the road and a handful of roster-changing trades: How would the New Wave Bulls compete?
Or the Post-Apocalyptic Bulls, depending on how you handled the news of Tuesday’s seven-man trade.
Back at home for the first time in two weeks, the Bulls battled hard to silence the division-leading Alaska Aces. But San Francisco would come up just short, dropping the match 2-1.
President and Head Coach Pat Curcio expressed his take on the game — and the new makeup of the team — after the game:
“I know it’s one game, but I just want to get better everyday and get into the playoffs. …I really like our team. I like looking down the bench and having depth. … I think we’ve started to settle down, we had some great chances. We just couldn’t finish.”
The first period would be a battle of veteran goalies, as Thomas Heemskerk and rival net minder Mark Guggenberger kept both teams scoreless through a little over 18 minutes of play.
But with 2:32 left in the period, Heemskerk’s slide into the splits wouldn’t be enough to keep Alex Hudson from lasering the puck into the back of the net to give the Aces the 1-0 lead.
Heemskerk discussed the goal post-game:
“I got a bit of a look at it. But it kind of beat me under the arm, kind of a weird shot. It was tough.”
The Aces would outshoot the Bulls 22-10 in the first period alone. Heemskirk would turn away 43 of 45 Aces shots on the night.
Following the first intermission — and a hot dog eating contest that would make anyone lose their appetite for good — the Bulls would get back to work trying to even up the scoreboard.
At 14:53, some of the team’s newest acquisitions would show their stuff. Yanni Gourde would skate all the way into the blue paint to flick the puck past Guggenberger for his second goal of the season, tying the game 1-1. Tristan King and Bryan Cameron would pick up assists.
New guy Gourde discussed the goal:
“I drove the net and he passed it to me. It took me three rebounds I think, (laughs) before I finally put it in. But, that was a great play by my line.”
The third period would kick off with Alaska continuing to pepper San Francisco’s goal with shots, with Chris Clackson sliding the winning goal past Heemskerk with 10:46 left in regulation. The 2-1 score would stick until the final buzzer.
Tired of the Aces already? We’re afraid you’ll have to deal with them just a bit longer, as the Bulls continue to host this two more times starting Friday. The puck drops at 7:15 p.m.
Last modified March 7, 2013 10:43 am
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