Rolling Meadows, IL- Same story, different night! The Bulldogs came into Friday’s game with a 1-5 record. In four of their five losses they have lost by one or two goals. In those same four losses, they have outshot their opponents by a good margin with little to show for it. Sadly, it was more of the same against the NW Flyers, as they dropped another tight one 4-3. The loss marks their third loss this season to the Flyers (including one in the preseason).

Just as it was in the three other games played by these two teams, the game started off slowly with neither side giving an inch. Midway through the first period, the Flyers got on the board by scoring on a power play. The Bulldogs got caught trying to create a shorthanded scoring opportunity, leaving goalie Alex Martinez defenseless when the Flyers had a 3-on-1 breakaway.

The Flyers scored again late in the first period on another power play goal to take a 2-0 lead, which left the Bulldogs searching for a solution to their offensive struggles. Their solution came shortly afterwards in the form of a defenseman. Mitch LaBuda nailed a slap shot from deep in the point that screamed past Flyer goalie, to narrow the deficit.

Defenseman Jason Darfler scored another one from the point, with just over three minutes left to tie the game at two apiece. However, the Flyers responded with a goal of their own just thirty seconds later to retake the lead.

The Bulldogs managed to tie the game gain late in the second period, on a rebound tip in by Maher Karim. The momentum of that goal should have shifted in the Bulldogs favor, but they uncharacteristically gave up a short handed goal just moments later to close out the second period.

Give the Bulldogs some credit, they completely shutdown the Flyers in the third and limited them to only four shots on goal. However, they also failed to score despite a valiant effort which saw them take fourteen shots on goal in the period.

“This one was on me” said Martinez. “I let a couple easy ones in including one that took a bad bounce. We played a decent game today and we should have won. We are getting closer it seems with each passing game, but we still have a lot of fundamentals and mental errors that we need to fix.”

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 1-6. They have lost all but one of their games by close margins and appear to be close to reaching their full potential. However, they still haven’t figured out what the missing pieces are to secure a win.

The Good:

• Shots on Goal: The Bulldogs outshot their opponents 36-25, the sixth time this season they have outshot their opponents in a game.
• Defense: The defensive unit has been the Bulldogs strength all season. This game was no exception.

The Bad:

• Special Teams: The Bulldogs PK unit gave up two costly goals on power plays and even gave one up shorthanded. These three goals could have meant the difference in a game that wasn’t decided until the final buzzer went off.
• Offense: It’s a very telling stat when your defensemen have outscored your forwards 5 to 4 in the last three games. You aren’t going to produce much scoring if the wingers and centers aren’t contributing.
• Physical Hockey: The Flyers are neither the fastest team in the league nor the most talented. However, they do play and hard nose brand of hockey the Bulldogs have yet to show this season.

The Ugly:

• Please Lord, Forgive Me: After officially becoming a Catholic on Wednesday 11/30, Goalie Alex Martinez walked out of church a new man. Or did he? He proceeded to commit enough sins between his locker room confessions, his on-ice cursing and raunchy behavior to give his priest an earful on Sunday. He may also want to repent to his teammates for letting a couple of preventable shots in net.

• Mitch LaBuda: Mitch got the Bulldogs on the board by scoring their first goal of the game. Furthermore, he played another great game on defense and stood out by skating hard on both ends of the ice.

• Jason Darfler: Jason scored a goal and played his usual, tough defense.

• Maher Karim: Maher scored the tying goal late in the third period, to help rally the Bulldogs and put them in a position to win.

Next up: Ice Pack on Monday 12/12/2011 at 10:55pm.