2/5 Recap: Twice is nice for Eidsness

Tonight, Brad Eidsness made 25 saves to pick up his 25th win as the Oilers topped first-place Camrose, 4-3. The win was Okotoks' second victory over the Kodiaks in a week. The Oilers took a 1-0 lead into a wide-open third period that saw the teams see-saw for six goals between them. Camrose tied the score a little over 5:00 in when Eidsness let a Geoff Peet shot sneak between his legs. The Oilers David Civitarese would answer back less than a minute later to give the lead back to the Oilers. The teams would exchange goals two more times, with the Kodiaks' Jesse Todd beating Eidsness through the five-hole to knot the game at three. Okotoks would get the game winner just moments later, and hold on for a 4-3 victory. The CJAHL Top-15 rankings were released earlier in the day, and despite the Oilers victory last Tuesday against the then-#1 Kodiaks, the Oilers are still listed as an honorable mention. Meanwhile, a Ft. McMurray club with fewer points than Okotoks moved up three spots to #11. I hardly think it matters to the Oilers, as they have their sights set on catching Camrose in the league standings. With seven games left in the regular season, the Oilers find themselves three points out of first.

2/5: Tuesday Slap Shots

- With Maxim Afinogenov re-tweaking his groin in yesterday's practice, and Clarke MacArthur coming down with a bad flu this morning, the Sabres re-called punishing forward Patrick Kaleta from Rochester just 24 hours after sending him down. Kaleta is in the Buffalo lineup tonight, making his presence felt early as the Sabres battle the Bruins. - It appears that an injury to Ducks prospect Logan MacMillan isn't as severe as originally thought after a Saturday collision with Sabres defensive prospect, T.J. Brennan. With no apparent MCL or ACL damage, the Mooseheads forward instead looks to have a charley horse. The two players collided knee-on-knee at center ice after Brennan stepped up to meet the rush. MacMillan had to be helped off the ice and did not return. Brennan, the Sabres first of two 2nd round picks in 2007, was called for kneeing on the play and received an extra fighting major after Guillaume Monast came to the defense of his injured Halifax teammate. - After injuring his shoulder in a January 25th game against Lake Erie, Amerks defenseman Michael Funk is slated to return to action this weekend. - Speaking of Funk, the Buffalo Sabres Foundation is currently accepting bids for vintage style, game-issued jerseys of the former Portland Winter Hawk, as well as fellow prospects Marek Zagrapan and Marc-Andre Gragnani. Bidding opens at $250 each. The auctions will close on Valentines Day. - In the only game on tonight's Sabres prospect docket, Brad Eidsness and the Okotoks Oilers (39-9-0-4) host top-ranked Camrose (41-6-0-5). Backed by a strong outing from Eidsness, the Oilers handed the Kodiaks a 2-1 loss in their last meeting one week ago. As always, an update will follow the game.

Gerbe nets winner in Beanpot thriller

Nathan Gerbe played hero tonight at the Beanpot, one-timing a pass from Brian Gibbons at 7:15 of overtime to vault Boston College past Boston University, 4-3. With the win, the Eagles will face Harvard for the famous title in next Monday's late game. After knotting it up in the early third, Gerbe converted a nice feed to pot his 21st goal on his ninth shot of the game. With the puck in his skates and his back to the goalie, Gibbons slid a pass to Gerbe, who came down the left side to bury the winner before engaging in a celebratory slide. Fourth line wing Andrew Orpik made his physical presence felt while delivering one shot on goal for BC. With 21 goals and 18 assists in 25 games, Gerbe's 1.56 points per game is tops in the country. He trails the national goals and points leaders by three in each category, but has played in three fewer games. Gerbe's clutch performance tonight creates a dilemma for Hobey Baker voters who frown upon some of Gerbe's on-ice behavior. The question remains whether or not they can soften their stance, and in turn reward the most explosive, productive player currently playing the college game. The nifty Gerbe has just ten games left to show his stuff, including a key weekend set with Hockey East leaders New Hampshire on February 22nd-23rd. Gerbe and Eagles will sandwich in a game at Massachusetts on Friday before settling the Beanpot with the Crimson.

Gerbe forces OT at the Beanpot

Or as the clever kids would write, (beanp)OT. Trailing BU by one just over a minute into the third, Boston College LW Nathan Gerbe connected on the power play to force sudden death at the Beanpot. Sitting on the doorstep, Gerbe poked a loose puck through Brett Bennett's pads to get on the scoresheet. Boston College was the better team in the third, and Gerbe was abuzz after the goal. The equalizer was his 20th of the season, and 8th on the power play. He currently has a game-high seven shots on goal. Alex Biega and the Crimson await the winner.

Gerbe charge helps rival

The second period of BC's match-up with defending Beanpot champ BU didn't go as planned for the Eagles. Leading 2-1 after one, they gave up a pair of power-play goals as BU re-gained the lead heading into the third period. For the most part, Nathan Gerbe has been kept in check by the Terriers D.

Terrier D Kevin Shattenkirk (COL) picked up a blueline turnover along the LW boards and fed a pass to wide-open Nick Bonino (SJ) to tie the game at the 3:57 mark.

Minutes later, Gerbe would play a role in the Terrier's go-ahead goal. Charging to the net short-handed, the Hobey favorite was penalized after making contact with BU netminder, Brett Bennett (PHX).

The call was questionable, and it's easy to suggest Gerbe's past transgressions created an illusion of guilt in the eyes of referee, Tim Bendetto. Bennett, a native of Buffalo, was outside of his crease making a pokecheck when the contact was made. Gerbe even moved aside at the last moment in an attempt to avoid the goalie as he was steered in that direction by Terrier defenseman, Colby Cohen (COL).

With Gerbe in the box, 2006 Beanpot MVP Pete MacArthur cashed in the five-on-three advantage to give BU the lead.

The Eagles will look to even the game quickly, beginning the third with a powerplay that is just one for six on the evening.

At the end of two, its BU 3, BC 2.

Eagles up after one

At the end of one, Boston College has a 2-1 lead over Boston University. Neither of Nathan Gerbe and Andrew Orpik factored into the Eagle tallies. Gerbe, active on an early power play, had two shots on goal in the period. The Terriers got out to a 1-0 lead when John McCarthy slipped one past Eagles goalie John Muse athe 4:40 mark. Anthony Aiello and Benn Ferriero would later answer by scoring two goals in ten seconds to give BC the lead heading into the break.

Crimson to play for 'Pot

The Buffalo Sabres will have at least one prospect in the Beanpot final, as Alex Biega and the Harvard Crimson sat on their first period jump to surprise #14 Northeastern, 3-1. Harvard advances to the Beanpot final for the first time in a decade, and hasn't taken the trophy home since 1993. With 31 shots through the first two periods, Harvard was outshot 7-2 in the third. The Huskies held play, but couldn't get another goal on the board. Biega led the Crimson charge, finishing a +3 with four shots on goal. The Montreal native now has one goal, eight assists, and is +1 in 21 games this season. Boston College, the team that all non-Eagles fans seem to hate, faces off against B-line rival Boston University in just a few minutes. NCAA top-scorer Nathan Gerbe (1.54 ppg) of Boston College is the featured player in tonght's closer at TD Banknorth Garden. Fellow Sabres prospect Andrew Orpik will see key minutes for the Eagles as an energy line banger.

Harvard leads 3-1 after two

In a year when #14 Northeastern has a chance at capitalizing on underachieving Boston-area teams, the Huskies find themselves trailing Alex Biega and Harvard 3-1 after forty minutes in the opening game of the 2008 Beanpot. The 2006 fifth-round pick, Biega has been on the ice for all three Crimson goals while collecting three shots on net. A first-round rematch of the last three finals between Boston College and Boston University follows at 8:00.

Kaleta sent back down

The Sabres have returned agitating forward Patrick Kaleta to Rochester of the AHL. In 11 games with Buffalo, the Western New York native picked up 4 PIM and was -2 without registering a point. Kaleta goes back to the Amerks, where he has one goal, three assists, and 104 PIM in 28 games. He'll be in uniform Wednesday at the BCA when the Amerks face upstate rival Syracuse.

Schedule for week of 2/4 - 2/10

With the DEL and SEL on hiatus until February 12th, and the OHL taking a breather for their All-Star break, there are just 27 games on the Sabres prospect slate this week. Games To Watch This week features the opening round of Boston's famous Beanpot tournament, played between D1 programs Harvard, Northeastern, Boston College, and Boston University. Alex Biega and the Crimson will kick things off with a Monday night battle against Northeastern. The Huskies have beaten the Crimson in every first-round match-up since 1996. In the same span, Harvard is just 4-20 in Beanpot games. BC juniors Nathan Gerbe and Andrew Orpik have never hoisted the Beanpot trophy, losing in the finals to Boston University in their two outings. They will have a chance to knock off the Terriers, winners of the past three titles, during Monday's capper. BU and BC have won the last fourteen tourneys between them, and face each other in the first round due to an annual rotating schedule. Ideally, both Boston College and Harvard will earn victories this week, giving the Sabres three prospects in the raucous finale next Monday. Other Notes The Rochester Americans will look to start their first winning streak in quite a while when they host I-90 rival Syracuse on Wednesday. Chris Butler and the Denver Pioneers will return to Magness after a disappointing weekend of losses in Mankato to take on Minnesota. After a hard-fought win against Camrose this past week, Brad Eidsness and the Okotoks Oilers will face the team they're trying to catch in the South Division standings two times in the next seven days. The AJHL clubs will swap home-ice on Tuesday and Sunday. Monday (2/4) Northeastern vs. Harvard Boston College vs. Boston University Tuesday (2/5) Camrose at Okotoks Wednesday (2/6) Gatineau at Victoriaville Syracuse at Rochester Boras at Nykopings Thursday (2/7) Kingston at Niagara Friday (2/8) Michigan State at Northern Michigan Minnesota at Denver Harvard at Union Alaska at Bowling Green Colgate at St. Lawrence Waterloo at Sioux Falls Niagara at London Baie-Comeau at St. John's Saturday (2/9) San Antonio at Rochester Cornell at St. Lawrence Alaska at Bowling Green Minnesota at Denver Michigan State at Northern Michigan Quebec at Gatineau Baie-Comeau at St. John's Omaha at Waterloo Drayton Valley at Okotoks Sunday (2/10) Grand Rapids at Rochester Mississauga/St. Mike's at Niagara Okotoks at Camrose