That was a disappointing result for us tonight. We thought we controlled most of the game and goalie Matt Murray played well for us. Obviously, the conditions were a major factor in it. He's an amazing goalie. I played with him in junior and I know what he is about. He's a competitor. He definitely held us in the game there.
The conditions were different for this game. When it kind of stopped raining there in the second period, it was kind of nice and you could see and all that. Then, it started to rain again in the third and rain a little bit harder than it had in the first and the second and the visors got fogged up a little and it was tough to see. No excuses when it is like that; both teams are playing in those conditions. I feel like we just let off the pedal a little bit and those guys capitalized.
Penalties were a factor. Those coincidental penalties in the third hurt us a little bit and then they pulled their goalie and got one. I feel like the last goal in regulation was a bit of a lucky bounce, good shot from the corner.
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We got a point out of this game though and we just have to take the positives and move forward.
It was hard when we lost Brian and Kris so early in the game. Those other four defensemen did such a great job for us playing a ton of minutes. They battle every night and tonight we lost two of our top D men and they stepped up and they played awesome.
For me personally, it was a cool experience. It would have been nice to get the win. Going out there and seeing that crowd was special. My older sister was in town too and to share this experience with family was pretty great.
The pregame ceremony, marching out onto the field and the anthem and the fireworks, it was all cool. The League did a great job and you kind of forgot about the cold while you were standing out there. The League put on a good show and I think it was a good experience for everybody.
I don't know if there is one thing I am going to remember more than anything else from tonight. There were so many things. First and foremost, who I got to play with. That first shift was pretty cool, and I almost put one in there at the back door with Nick Bjugstad and Bryan Rust. I had another good chance later and I think I just missed the far corner. The puck just landed there for me and I tried to get it off as quick as possible. I just missed it.
It was a cool experience overall. There isn't one thing I can pull out. I got to share the ice with some great players and it's definitely going to be something to tell the kids.