Deeves proves too much for Miami

David Deeves' final goal pretty much told the story Friday night.

As the Miami defense tried to clear the puck out of its zone, Deeves stole it near the blue line and drilled it past Manatees goalie Sean Weaver for his fourth goal of the night. Weaver flopped on his back, and held his arms up, perhaps asking "Why me?"

Why indeed. Deeves ended up with a six-point night as Macon snapped a six-game winless streak, crushing Miami 7-2 at the Coliseum.

The last time Deeves had a night like this one, he was playing in juniors six years ago.

"It was one of those nights the puck bounced my way," he said. "I actually went to school with (Weaver), at Canisius, so that made it kind of fun."

Weaver and the Manatees (18-11-3) didn't have a lot of fun one night after beating the Trax 4-1. Macon (14-13-5) scored just 3:31 into the game on Ryan Rivard's four-footer that deflected off Weaver's pad into the net.

Deeves notched his first goal of the night nine minutes later when he came around from behind the net to make it 2-0. Just 1:37 later, the Trax recorded the prettiest play of the night when Jeff Antonovich tracked down the puck in the corner and sent a no-look pass to Rivard right in front of the net to make it 3-0 with 5:53 left in the period.

Miami coach Zac Boyer didn't have to suffer through too much more of the game. With 2:32 left, Boyer was ejected and tossed his clipboard across the ice after a pair of penalties called against the Manatees just nine seconds apart.

"It was poor officiating," said Boyer, whose squad had its seven-game win streak snapped. "It was just missed calls. They missed two calls on two of my guys. I wasn't going to stand for it."

Despite the big deficit, the Manatees still had their chances to climb back into the game during the second period, thanks to five power-play chances.

But Deeves extended the lead when he picked up the loose puck and beat Weaver through the 5-hole at 5:29 into the second.

Miami got one back when Darcy Johnson scored on a power play at 8:44, but that was as close as the Manatees would get. Miami would get blanked on its other special teams opportunities, including a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:09, and gave up a short-handed goal to Deeves at 1:14 into the third for the hat trick that made it 5-1.

Steve Zoryk added a goal at 6:23 that made it 6-1, and after Deeves' fourth goal, Tom Kotsopoulis scored on a late rebound for Miami, which outshot the Trax 27-26. Deeves had a chance for a fifth goal in the final minute, but his shot bounced off the crossbar.

"He's an exceptional player," Boyer said of Deeves. "He's one of my favorite players in the league. I have tremendous respect for him. He's deadly around the net, and works hard for a little guy."

The victory was a critical one for Macon, which has two more home games before spending the next 10 games on the road.

"Obviously, Miami didn't come out great," said Trax coach Tommy Stewart. "We got some good shots and were solid most of the night.

"Tonight we played solid and got off our drought. This was a valuable two points."

Stewart has been impressed with the development of Deeves, who was his teammate last season with the Trax.

"He's raised (his play)," Stewart said. "He sees the ice way better. Last year he was focused on beating everybody by himself. He had tunnel vision. Now he gives it up and gets it back."

Macon has had a busy stretch, playing its sixth game out of a seven-game stretch in a span of nine days. It's been even busier for Deeves, who played in Tuesday's all-star game in Jacksonville with Zoryk and defenseman Art Mnatsakanov as well.

"I'm all right," Deeves said. "I get up to play. This is the fun part."

The Trax will play host to Alabama tonight in "Guaranteed Win Night." If Macon loses against the Slammers, all fans in attendance will get free tickets to Tuesday's game against Lakeland.

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