Suns goalies
come up big
Midwest All-Stars falls 4-3, 6-0
Sun Valley Suns goalies Matt Gershater and
Ryan Thomson had sparkling efforts between the pipes as the Suns (9-5) swept the
Midwest All-Stars 4-3 and 6-0 last weekend, extending their winning streak to
four games.
Gershater (23 saves) stopped all 10
Midwest All-Star shots in the second period of a 2-1 game. Many of them were
tough saves. Vilnis Nikolaisons and Luke Smith scored goals giving the Suns a
4-1 lead that they preserved Friday at Sun Valley Skating Center.
Smith’s eventual game winner came on a
two-on-one feed from Jamie Ellison, after a breakout pass from rookie defenseman
Chris Warrington.
Right wing Paul Baranzelli, the weekend
Suns scoring leader (3 goals, 2 assists), added two goals Friday.
Suns coach Johnny Ellison said, "Matt had
some key saves in the second period. The guys played very much as a team rather
than individuals. There were a lot of good passing plays, and our intensity is
improving."
Back from an injury, first-year Suns
goalie Thomson pitched a 29-save shutout at the All-Stars Saturday—the first
Suns shutout in a 40-game span dating back to March 2002. And there were six
different Suns scorers in the 6-0 triumph.
Coach Ellison said, "Ryan played a great
game coming back from a three-week injury. He made a big difference for us. And
we played great defensive hockey. We made the most of our chances—and we didn’t
give up defense to get those scoring plays."
The forward line of left wing Pat
Finnegan, center Ryan Enrico and right wing Baranzelli accounted for 9 of 16
Suns points Saturday.
And the Suns broke open a 3-0 game with
three third-period goals. Finnegan and Baranzelli sent Enrico in alone for a 4-0
game. Chris Benson scored his first goal of the year on a familiar blistering
wrist shot. And Luke Smith dropped a nice pass to Jamie Ellison for a wrist shot
winner on a two-on-oh break down the ice.
The Suns are idle this weekend. Next up is
a Feb. 27-28 series against the East Kootenay Royals from British Columbia,
Canada. Check the Express Web site for updated Suns season statistics and last
weekend’s hockey summary against the All-Stars.
Suns 4, All-Stars 3
Friday
Midwest All-Stars 1 0 2 3
Sun Valley Suns 2 1 1 4
FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Paul
Baranzelli 5 (Pat Finnegan, Mike Selhay), 14:29. (2) All-Stars, Steve Brown
(Chris Delabbio), 18:38. (3) SV, Baranzelli 6 (unassisted), 18:51.
SECOND PERIOD—(4)
SV, Vilnis Nikolaisons 8 (unassisted), 16:55.
THIRD PERIOD—(5) SV, Luke Smith 10
(Jamie Ellison, Chris Warrington), 5:26. (6) All-Stars, Stan Delabbio (Tom
Maroste), 16:00, power play goal. (7) All-Stars, Chris Coakley (Mike Jurgensen,
Brad Stepan), 16:52.
SHOTS ON GOAL—For Midwest All-Stars
7-10-9 for 26; for Sun Valley 18-20-12 for 50.
GOALIES—Midwest All-Stars, Jeff
McMurchie (46 saves); SV, Matt Gershater (23 saves, 5-3-0 season record).
OFFICIALS—Referee, Richard Winkler;
linesmen, Curtis Martin and Chris Benson.
NOTES—Suns
forward lines were Vilnis Nikolaisons-Jamie Ellison-Luke Smith, Pat
Finnegan-John Stevens-Paul Baranzelli, Chris King-Ryan Enrico-Rohan Verplank,
with Caleb Baukol and J.J. Hanley rotating in to play with center Stevens. The
defensive pairs were Ivars Muzis-Mike Selhay and Josh Jacobson-Chris Warrington.
Suns 6, All-Stars 0
Saturday
Midwest All-Stars 0 0 0 0
Sun Valley Suns 1 2 3 6
FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Ivars Muzis 5
(Chris Warrington), 19:31, power play goal.
SECOND PERIOD—(2)
SV, Pat Finnegan 3 (Ryan Enrico, Paul Baranzelli), 1:56. (3) SV, Baranzelli 7 (Enrico,
Finnegan), 16:18.
THIRD PERIOD—(4) SV, Enrico 6
(Finnegan, Baranzelli), 9:43. (5) SV, Chris Benson 1 (J.J. Hanley), 11:24. (6)
SV, Jamie Ellison 7 (Luke Smith, Muzis), 16:10.
SHOTS ON GOAL—For Midwest All-Stars
11-10-8 for 29; for Sun Valley 17-18-12 for 47.
GOALIES—Midwest All-Stars, Tom
Nowland (41 saves); SV, Ryan Thomson (29 saves, 4-1-0 season record).
OFFICIALS—Referee, Richard Winkler;
linesmen, Curtis Martin and Rohan Verplank.
NOTES—The
Suns staged a blue light special for their fans as the eight bachelors in the
Suns auction were spotlighted before the third period. Stripping off their
shirts as they skated onto the ice were Ryan Thomson, Josh Jacobson, Ryan Enrico,
Rohan Verplank, Matt Gershater, Chris King, Eric Demment and J. J. Hanley. Some
of the bids for the bachelors: Jacobson $150 and Enrico $100….Suns forward lines
were Vilnis Nikolaisons-Jamie Ellison-Luke Smith, Pat Finnegan-Ryan Enrico-Paul
Baranzelli, Chris King-Chris Benson-Caleb Baukol, with J.J. Hanley rotating in.
The defensive pairs were Ivars Muzis-Mike Selhay and Josh Jacobson-Chris
Warrington…..Jacobson got in a few good punches and earned a 3-point near fall
in his third-period fight with Mike Jurgensen of the All-Stars—and both got the
heave-ho from referee Winkler….Local product Blake Jensen played for the
All-Stars….Leading the weekend scoring for the Suns was right wing Baranzelli
with 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points. Left wing Pat Finnegan, another
Minnesotan, had 4 points….The last Suns shutout, 7-0, was pitched by Matt
Gershater (12 saves) against the Dallas South Stars March 2, 2002 on Sun Valley
ice.
2003-04 Sun Valley Suns
Season statistics
(9-5 overall: 7-3 home, 2-2 away)
as of
February 18, 2004
PLAYER |
GAMES |
GOALS |
AST. |
PTS. |
PMIN |
Vilnis
Nikolaisons |
14 |
8 |
12 |
20 |
4.0 |
Jamie
Ellison |
14 |
7 |
12 |
19 |
24.0 |
Ryan
Enrico |
14 |
6 |
13 |
19 |
12.0 |
Paul
Baranzelli |
13 |
7 |
8 |
15 |
23.0 |
Ivars
Muzis |
12 |
5 |
10 |
15 |
2.0 |
Luke
Smith |
14 |
10 |
4 |
14 |
11.0 |
Chris
King |
12 |
4 |
6 |
10 |
0.0 |
John
Stevens |
13 |
5 |
4 |
9 |
14.0 |
Eric
Demment |
8 |
5 |
4 |
9 |
4.0 |
Pat
Finnegan |
13 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
9.0 |
Rohan
Verplank |
11 |
3 |
4 |
7 |
6.0 |
Chris
Warrington |
13 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
2.0 |
John
Miller |
8 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
0.0 |
Brian
Watts |
9 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
Kris
Webster |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
2.0 |
Caleb
Baukol |
12 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
6.0 |
Frank
Salvoni |
7 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
J.J.
Hanley |
9 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0.0 |
Chris
Benson |
11 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
Mike
Selhay |
5 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
11.0 |
Matt
Gershater |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
9.0 |
Josh
Jacobson |
11 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
26.0 |
Ryan
Thomson |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
Peter
Miner |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
Paul
Miner |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
Kevin
Bullock |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2.0 |
Billy
Tryder |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
James
Moskos |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
GOALTENDER
|
GAMES |
GOALS |
W-L |
AVG. |
Matt Gershater
|
7.5 |
36 |
5-3-0 |
4.80 |
Ryan
Thomson
|
5.1 |
20 |
4-1-0 |
3.92 |
James Moskos
|
1 |
7 |
0-1-0 |
7.00 |
Bobby Farrelly
|
0.5 |
2 |
0-0-0 |
2.00 |
Shots—Gershater
246, Thomson 157, Moskos 41, Farrelly 14. Saves—Gershater 210, Thomson
136, Moskos 34, Farrelly 12. Shootout saves—0.
Shootout goals allowed—0.
Shutouts—0.
Empty net goals—2.
SCORE
BY
PERIODS
|
1ST |
2ND |
3RD |
OT |
TOT |
AVE |
Opposition |
18 |
25 |
24 |
0 |
67 |
4.8 |
Sun
Valley |
20 |
21 |
33 |
0 |
74 |
5.3 |
INDIVIDUAL MARKS
Two-goal games
(10)—Luke Smith 2, Jamie Ellison 2, Vilnis Nikolaisons 2, Paul Baranzelli 2,
Ryan Enrico 1, John Stevens 1.
Hat tricks or more
(1)—Luke Smith 1 (4 goals).
Game-winning goals—Eric
Demment 1.
Power play goals
(11-45, 24%)—Vilnis Nikolaisons 2, Eric Demment 2, Luke Smith 2, Ivars Muzis 2,
John Miller 1, Paul Baranzelli 1, Brian Watts 1. Power play goals
(opposition): 8-44, (18%).
Shorthanded goals
(3)—Ryan Enrico 1, Chris Warrington 1, Eric Demment 1. Shorthanded goals
(opposition): 5.
Season penalty minutes:
SV 175, opponents 189.
GAME RESULTS
Total record:
9-5
Record in 1-goal games:
3-0
Record in overtime:
0-0-0
Games scoring 9 or more goals:
2
Games scoring 7 or more goals:
4
December 19 (H) Sun Valley 10, Portland Checks 2
December 20 (H) Sun Valley 5, Portland Checks 4
January 2 (H) Sun Valley 7, Boise Blades 4
January 3 (H) Boise Blades 8, Sun Valley 5
January 16 (A) Sun Valley 8, McCall Mountaineers 5
January 17 (A) Sun Valley 5, McCall Mountaineers 4
January 23 (H) Jackson Hole Moose 10, Sun Valley 2
January 24 (H) Jackson Hole Moose 6, Sun Valley 2
January 30 (A) Jackson Hole Moose 7, Sun Valley 2
January 31 (A) Jackson Hole Moose 4, Sun Valley 1
February 6 (H) Sun Valley 12, Bucks Furniture 8
February 7 (H) Sun Valley 5, Bucks Furniture 2
February 13 (H) Sun Valley 4, Midwest All-Stars 3
February 14 (H) Sun Valley 6, Midwest All-Stars 0