Dec 3 Game Preview: Stars vs Brewers

Every team has played each other. Every team on equal footing. 

The early stages of the season is over…now we enter the “middle stages”.

You can’t win a championship in December, but you can certainly lose it. That is what direction things could be heading if these teams don’t pick up a win.

The Xtreme flexed their muscles and beat the Stars 6-4 and the Brewers 5-3. In both those contests the Xtreme built up early leads and held on.

Now it’s up to the other teams to play chase. Only the Top 2 teams make the playoffs so this one feels important. 

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

Hello, NHSL. What a game this was. Back on Friday 12 November, the Stars and Brewers collided and gave fans an epic encounter. 

There was a lot to digest in the thrilling 4-3 OT Brewers win in the opener in front of a sold out crowd.

There was a fight. There was a shorthanded goal. There was a goal within 30 seconds of puck drop. There was stellar saves (over 50 of them each) from both goaltenders. There were epic hits. Incredible shot blocks. There was even a goalie assist on the game winning goal.

It had everything except a power play goal.

Ben Handberg scored twice including the winning mark with 4 seconds left to play. 

You can watch all the highlights here. 

THE SEASON SO FAR

Round 1 – Brewers 4 def Stars 3 (OT)

Round 2 – Xtreme 5 def Brewers 3

Round 3 – Xtreme 6 def Stars 4

Standings
1. Xtreme – 4 points
2. Brewers – 2 points
3. Stars – 1 point 

STAT LEADERES - Click here. 

WHAT TO EXPECT IN THIS GAME

Mayhem. 

Both teams say they will lift the intensity. There was nothing separating the two teams in Game #1. I would expect nothing less here.

I would also expect a lot of shots. Teams are average 40 shots per-game and most of them are coming in the third period. This is likely due to the adjustment players are going through to get up to speed with 60 minute stop time periods.

THINGS WE WE’RE WATCHING

1. Adjustments: What will the two head coaches do to mix things up – if they do anything at all? We’re two games each in now which means trends are starting to develop, chemistry is either there (or not) with line combinations. Who will make the first move in this chess game? 
    
2. Secondary Scoring: Connor Smith scored a meaningless goal for the Stars at the buzzer last week. Other than that, the Stars only have two goal scorers (Levesque + Riley) and they are from the same line. Who steps up below and spreads the love? 
    
3. Face-off improvements:  The Brewers won only 29% of face-offs week #1 and it was a similar mark in week #2. Controlling the puck off the draw could be a key thing. Here's a look at face-off percentages as a team
    

   Face-Offs - Team
   Xtreme	72%
   Stars	44%
   Brewers	35%

4. Young Guns:  19-year-old Ben Handberg (2 goals, 1 assist) has announced himself to the big stage with the Brewers. 19-year-old Jake Hazel has been impressive for the Stars and was the only member of the team to not be scored against last week.

GOALTENDER MATCH UPS

Stars: Glen Forbes-White – He allowed three goals on his first three shots in his return to injury last week. Glen looked more settled after that and stopped 32 of his next 35 pucks. Chalk week one to injury but he’ll need to be better this week.  

Brewers: Matus Trnka – The 17-year-old goalie has faced over 40 shots both games and kept his team in it. He’s quick, he’s acrobatic, he’s fun to watch  

A WORD FROM THE COACH…

Incoming...

POTENTIAL LINE COMBINATIONS 
 
Stars

Y. Levesque – J. Koubek - J. Riley 
K. Collier – R. Foll – Z. Steele
T. Boyd – L. Harding – J. McDonnell
A. Foster – Q. Tombleson 

J. Hazel - C. Smith
M. Komazec - D. Madsen
Sinko - T. Benson

G. Forbes-White
S. Poole

Brewers

T. Sak - S. Best - B. Handberg
N. Pau - T. Leeming - J. Klein
T. Boyle - R. Matchoss - R. Boundy
C. Cook - D. Pope

Z. Boyle - J. O'Brien
C. Pope - A. Wise
T. Reese - D. Strawbridge 

M. Trnka
A. Glass