Was Tips overager Shane Harper imitating Lance Bouma?

• A clear indication of who wanted it more in game five came from Tips forward Shane Harper. What is Harper doing running around the Rockets zone like he's Lance Bouma? Isn't Harper a 42 goal scorer, not a hitter? Harper was going to do whatever it took to send the series back to Kelowna with his team up 3 games to two. Frankly, Harper's physical effort last night impressed me more than had he scored two goals.
• The Tips blank the Rockets by dressing just five defenceman. That should give you a good indication of what the visitors brought to the table last night. While the Tips deserve credit for sucking it up despite a battered and bruised back end, the Rockets just couldn't take advantage of the Tips misfortune.
• The last time the Rockets opened the scoring was the second last game of the regular season. Shane McColgan scored his 25th goal of the season in a 4-3 win in Vancouver. McColgan's goal came 3:15 into period one.
• Tyler Maxwell arose from the dead in game five. A 33 goal man during the regular season, Maxwell scored his first two goals of the series. Now it's Brandon McMillan and Shane McColgan's turn to produce on the scoreboard. Those two 25 goal scorers have yet to fire a puck past a Tips goalie in five games.
• Argue with me if you want, but my belief is that the Rockets expected this to be a seven game series. I anticipate them playing their hearts out tonight and forcing a game seven back in Everett Monday where all the chips are on the table. The Rockets have been this way all season. The light switch goes on and off. When they want to play hard, they look like world beaters yet when they are off, they are really off.
• As one of the ushers at Comcast Arena told me, "make sure to win game six so we can see you here Monday night". I asked him why he would say that? He said, "Because us ushers get paid on a per game basis, and we need the money".