The Tigers brought the top-seeded Shooters to overtime the other night, squeezing a point out of the otherwise stingy veteran team.
"I feel like we were in it until the very end," says goal-scorer Paul "Man of-" Steele, who potted both the first goal of the game and his first of the season. The game see-sawed from that point forward, with both teams holding a lead at some point in the game.
The Tigers continued their penalty-free streak. According to fan-favorite Rick "Bang Bang" Barna, "We're not playing like pansies, we're just not getting caught for once," said one of the Tigers' many resident agitators. The team's power play woes continued as they failed to convert late in the third period on a tripping call.
Offensive star of the game was Ross "Machine à Marquer" Smith, who potted his first hat trick of the season as berets rained down upon the ice. "Ross really brought it to the Shooters," says forward CD "Northeast Agitator" Di Guardia, "I bet he's really looking forward to seeing this game recap in, about a few weeks. I bet we'll even win next week against the Red Dragons, even if he plays defence."
The Boston Tigers had an offensive explosion last night in their 6-2 romp over the hapless Red Dragons. Six different players scored and the Tigers clocked in with a franchise record 48 shots on Dragons' goaltender Lee "RainDance" Fairweather. Tigers' goaltender Mike "Gretzky" Zargaj stopped all but two of the Dragons shots and recorded his second assist in as many games, making him the top-scoring goaltender in the division.
"Z really does it all," said defenceman Dan "Dirty Dan" Hogan. "He's stopping pucks, he's setting up plays, I think I saw him try to Zamboni the ice between periods but the guy wouldn't give him the keys."
The Tigers took a few steps in turning their power play around, converting on one of three chances provided by the oft-penalized Red Dragons. Free agent acquisition Austin "Stone Cold Austin Austin" O'Malley scored the power play goal on a nifty feed by fellow new Tiger Ed "I Am Ironman" Berk. "I guess their try-outs are over," quipped defenceman Gregg "Master Baiter" Griffin.
The Tigers and Blast switched spots in the standings last night as the Tigers fell 3-2 to the dastardly Blast. The game stayed as close as the score implies, with the Tigers making the Blast work to the final buzzer to secure the win.
Tigers offence started slowly, with defenceman-turned-winger Gregg "I Could Get Used to This" Griffin scoring at 11:16 of the second period on a great move to the inside followed up by a smooth shot over the glove of Blast goalie Jeff "Judas" Berk. The only other goal came courtesy of C.D. "Really, I Got a Haircut" Di Guardia, who was nicely set up by EJ "Gretzky Who?" Brown, who also assisted on Griffin's marker.
"We stayed in the game right up until the end," says new center Ed "Vader" Berk, "We had a few chances on the power play and a few good opportunities on the even-strength. One of those goes the other way, and we've got a new hockey game."
As usual with the Blast, tempers ran high. The Tigers, who had not been penalized for a few games found themselves in the box thrice, with Chuck "The Iron Chuck" Dodge and Ed "No Really, It's All-" Goodreau getting whistled off for interference and Di Guardia getting called for a much manlier roughing penalty.
"It was that big bastard again," reports Di Guardia. "Guy's like 6 foot something and thinks he can push us around." Griffin agreed on the Blasts general chippiness: "Last year we were the goons, but I really think the Blast is just a dirty bunch of hockey players, the dirtiest of which is that Jeff Berk character."
The Tigers go into the Thanksgiving Break with 7 points. Their next game is December 2 against the Rolling Thunder.
The Tigers returned to the ice in West Newton with one goal - maintain this season's unbeaten streak against the Rolling Thunder. They succeeded in grand style with a 5 - 2 romp over the once-mighty Thunder that was never in doubt.
Four different Tigers scored the team's five goals, led by Bob "Double Trouble" Goodreau's two goals. Goodreau was joined on the scoresheet by Mark "Freedbird" Freed, EJ "What's Your Name" Brown and Ross "Maison Douce Alabama" Smith.
A new name on the scoresheet came in the form of John Q. "Call Me The Breeze" Sheehan, who had two assists in the Sunday night tilt. Mike "Four Walls of Railford" Zargaj stopped 7 of the Thunder's 9 shots.
The team got a little late help from Dave "Gimme Three Steps" Bonner, who arrived a few minutes into the first period. "I missed the Tigers team bus and I had to skate to the rink," explained Bonner. "I'm just glad he got here," exclaims Dan "Simple Man" Hogan, "I hate having an odd number of defencemen on the ice!"
The Boston Tigers played possibly their best 35 minutes of hockey this past Monday night.
Unfortunately is was followed by possibly their worst 10 minutes of hockey, leading to a stinging 5-3 loss at the hands of the top-seeded Boston Shooters.
The Tigers gave up five unanswered goals in the third period, including a Shooters’ power play goal that ruined the Tigers’ until-now flawless penalty killing record and tied the game at 3 with 5:13 remaining in the third period.
“Yeah, there goes the perfect penalty killing record,” said forward Mark “Frosty” Freed, “We also had a pretty lengthy 5 on 3 advantage in the first period that we didn’t score on, so that stings a bit, too.”
Winger C.D. “5 Golden Shirts” Di Guardia echoed Freed’s regret. “I had three good opportunities; one I definitely should have put home,” he said.
“Basically, we all sort of lost this one,” says goaltender Mike “Baby It’s Goalies Outside” Zargaj, “But if I had to point fingers, I wish that Hogan wasn’t flirting with the chick all night.”
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” mused Dan “Away on a Blueline” Hogan, “I was just trying to get in her pants. Uh. Head.”
Tigers goals were scored by John “Who Is This Merry Gentleman” Q. Sheehan, Austin “The Snowman” O’Malley and Ross “Joyeux Noël, Vous Américain Salauds” Smith.
This loss behind them, the team looks to rebound next week against the Red Dragons.
The last game's loss stlll fresh in their minds, the Tigers took to the ice with a renewed vigor and resolve to end the year on a high note. Joy came to the Tigers' world in a 6-1 win over the hapless Ice Dragons, still in search of their first win of the season.
"We came into this game determined to put them away," emphasizes forward Austin "Baby It's Cold Inside" O'Malley, who assisted the second goal, scored by Ming "Puck On a String Ming" Tang with around 5 minutes left in the first period.
While Tang's goal was the eventual game-winner, the offensive star of the night was Bob "Knows If You've Been-" Goodreau, who singlehandedly outscored the Dragons with a hat trick. Defenseman Rick "Dangerous Rick" Barna recorded a hat trick of another fashion, spending a total of six minutes in the penalty box. "HO HO HO!" remarked the bearded timekeeper, "I KNOW ONE LITTLE TIGER WHO IS GETTING SOME COAL IN HIS STOCKING!"
The other two goals were scored by Ed "Saint Ed" Berk and John Q. "What Forward Is This?" Sheehan, and goaltender Mike "O, Goalie Night" Zargaj stopped 23 of 24 shots.
Strong performances came from the Tigers' blueline, with EJ "Silent Night" Brown showing a good degree of poise in the offensive zone while Dave "The Snowman" Bonner played his customary strong neutral zone game.
The Tigers next game is Sunday, January 6 against the hated Boston Blast.