Laredo Lets
Loose
Bucks squash Bugs 5-1 in front of full house
to knot series at 3-3; Game 7 will decide CHL Championship.
04.27.04 -- Laredo, TX
– In front of a capacity crowd of 8,002 fans, the Laredo Bucks posted
a 5-1 win in Game Six of the President's Cup Finals to even the best
of seven series at three games apiece.
The
decisive Game Seven is set for Wednesday night at the Laredo Entertainment
Center, with the winner being crowned the 2004 CHL Champions.
Facing elimination for
the second straight game and backed by a sellout crowd, the Bucks came out
flying Tuesday evening.
Bucks forward Brent Cullaton
snapped a shot from the slot that Mudbugs goalie Ken Carroll got a piece of,
but not enough to keep out of the net to electrify the huge crowd 3:04 into
the game with a 1-0 Laredo lead. It was the first goal of the Finals for Cullaton,
and his fourth of the playoffs.
Just over four minutes
later it was forward James Hiebert scoring on a wrist shot from the slot for
a power play goal at 7:13.
Less than two minutes
later the Bucks were at it again as forward Chris Grenville sent a pass in
front that forward Max Birbraer slammed into the net at 9:04 for his third
of the playoffs, and a 3-0 Laredo lead.
In the second period
the Mudbugs put on a charge, but Bucks goalie Marco Emond was terrific, as
he stopped 20 of 21 shots to keep the Bucks in control. Bossier-Shreveport
forward Chad Spurr scored the only goal of the period at 14:47 on a wrist
shot high glove side as he received a pass alone in front of the net.
In the third period the
Bucks put the game away. Forward Serge Dube stick handled to the front of
the net where his shot was stopped, but forward Adam Paiement was there to
poke in the rebound at 12:00 for his fourth of the playoffs to make it 4-1
Laredo.
Just 29 seconds later
it was forward Chris Grenville firing home a wrist shot high stick side on
a power play for his seventh of the playoffs at 12:29 to ensure a Bucks victory.
Emond was tremendous,
stopping 37 of 38 shots to get the win and improve to 3-3 in the playoffs.
Carroll allowed three
goals on 11 shots and was pulled after the first period, taking the loss to
fall to 9-5.
Jeff Blair played the
final 40 minutes in goal for the Mudbugs and allowed two goals on 18 shots.
The Bucks were 2-5 on the power play, while Bossier-Shreveport was 0-4.
