Sorry with the late game report, would you believe I had computer problems last night, 1st time in years, I guess my computer was also upset with the Tiger's performance last night.
The Tigers, contrary to what they have been doing in series openers, came out strong in the 1st period outshooting the Blades 12-7 and were in control of the game going into the 1st intermission with a 1-0 lead. From there on, a different Tiger team showed up for the 2nd and 3rd and were completely dominated, outskated and outshot. The Blades kept up a strong aggressive attack and kept the Cats at bay for 2 periods. The whole defensive wall of the Tigers seemed to be on a holiday as Aaron Barton had to handle several break-a-ways, with the Blades scoring on one of them. The Tiger power play also seemed to go south as the Tigers were unable to score on 7 PP chances, while the Blades made good on 2 out of 3. Shots were fiarly even Oakville having the edge 33/29. When the Tigers did get the chances, especially in the 1st period, Scott Greenham was up to the task coming up with a 28/29 effort. Couldn't fault his counterpart at the other end as Barton made several key saves to hold the Blades at 4 goals.
Aurora took the lead in the 1st at 10.20 on a great 3 way passing play from David Morley to Cody Smith and finally to Sam Yearsley who made no mistake beating Greenham on the glove side. 1st ended 1-0 Tigers.
The 2nd was fairly even on shots but not on goals as the Blades hit for 2. The 1st came at 9.07 a PPG off the Stick of Chris Haltigin from Nick Mc Parland and Chris Corbeil. Then 1.26 mins later, Kyle Badham scored with assists going to Dustin Alcock and Kellan Lain. The 2nd intermission found the Blades up 2-1.
The 3rd proved to be the killer for the Tabbies as Oakville outshot them 10-5 and added 2 more goals. Lindsay Sparks knotched both Blade goals in the 3rd, 1 on another PP. Jeremy Welsh picked up 2 assists on them while Geoff Guimond and Chris Haltigin added 1 each. It was all Blades in the 3rd as the Tigers could not get untracked and at times looked very confused. They game was played very cleanly as Referee Pete Kostyk handed out 10 offenses including a 10 min misconduct to Nick McParland for a head check.
The playing field moves to Aurora tonight. Can the Tigers come back after what was probably their worst game of the entire season? No question the Blades are the best that the Tigers have faced to date, and why not, they are the West Champions. This series is going to be a long tough one, both teams know it.
Look for the Cats to "claw" their way back tonight at the "Tiger's Den".
sounds like it could turn into a good series. We do not hear much about Oakville down here, so rely on other comments. Knowing Aurora they will find a way to stay with them. About your comment SMC regarding their toughest opponent yet, the same can be said about the Dukes with Markham. It also is going to be a good series. But hey, that is why these four teams are division champs. We would not expect anything less. I am sure there are many out there who would like to see the Dukes and Tigers eliminated, but myself, I am looking for a rematch of last year. Plenty of hockey to be played.Stay tuned. Go Dukes Go
SpiritNation (Login SpiritNation) Registered Members
Re: Tiger Run Into A "Blade Saw" Drop Opener 4-1 In Oakville
March 23 2008, 11:10 AM
Calling Bill Murray...Bill Murray, are you out there??? Reference being made to Groundhog Day, as in I've seen this movie before. Oooh, look at those Hurricanes winning game one (Tigers win series 4-1). My Spirit looked good and stole game one in Aurora (Tigers win series 4-1). Looks like this movie has started the same as the last two!
