"Butch" Lifts Plague to OT Win - original6's Blog

original6's Blog

"Butch" Lifts Plague to OT Win

Posted on December 1, 2009 at 10:41 PM.

P.M. "Butch" Bouchard received a nice feed from the corner by Cal Clutterbuck and shelfed a wrister past Mason to lift the St. Paul Plague to a 5-4 OT win. It was the first game in the of the St. Paul Plague's inaugural season.

The Plague fell behind early after taking several penalties and getting outplayed physically. The Jackets netted 2 goals in the first period and one early in the 2nd to take a seemingly overwhelming 3-0 lead. However, St. Paul's Coach Richards was able to keep the team composed. The Plague started to play the body more, matching the Jackets' physical play. As a result, scoring chances started to appear and the Plague capitalized on them. Columbus kept the pressure on though, putting 2 more pucks in the back of the net to maintain a two-goal lead after 2 periods, 4-2. In the third period, the Plague's physical play and speed started to take it's toll on Columbus. The Jackets spent some costly time in the sin bin as Koivu and Grabovski teamed up to put 2 goals past Mason and complete the comeback. Koivu played the front of the net well, screening the Columbus netminder, deflecting one shot and screening another by Grabovski. Despite giving up 4 goals, Backstrom's play in net kept the Plague in the game. The Finn made an astonishing 49 saves against a very tough Blue Jackets team.