Maybe a rest is all the Tigers needed? With a break from practice yesterday, they came out flying and played a pretty good hockey game, flattening the blades at the start and making them loose interest in the game early.
The Tigers defensively played WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAy better than they have been playing. That plus a strong presence on their powerplay did the Blades In. The tigers had a bit of a lapse in the second period, however the blades didn't manage to score, with the defense holding the fort.
The blades might have taken the tigers a bit lightly tonight because of their last 2 shutouts against them. The tigers were motivated after individual player-to-coach meetings this week to discuses their lack of effort lately.
The power plays definitely favored the tigers at the start, but most of the blades penalties were hard trips or obvious hooks.
(Except the one call, against Zahn in the second, was a weaker call)
The blades also shot themselves in the foot with 2 delay of game penalties.
Game Summary
The tigers jumped on the blades early scoring 3 goals within the first 6 minutes chasing starter Braden Holtby. The tigers were all over the blades hammering them in their end. Tiger Killer Sam Klassen took out his second tiger in as many games. Bretton Cameron challenged him to a fight.
The big strong Klassen managed to throw Cameron to the ice a couple times, and get a few punches in. Bretton Cameron had some damage to his shoulder of the result of that, and had to leave the game. Initial estimates are that he will be out for 2-4 weeks. (Not another injury Yikes!)
The second period seemed a little slow paced, and the blades managed to get their game flowing. However Saskatoon's luck didn't get any better. Late in the second with the tigers on their heels Saskatoon took another penalty and the tigers took advantage with a goal From Linden Vey and regained the momentum.
In the third the blades got their only goal from a nice Tip-In shot. Hulak was perfectly positioned to the side of the net and Ryan Holfeld was out challenging. The blades D-man Neimi half slap passed a hard shot wide, and Hulak tipped it in the net.
All in all it was a breath of fresh air. The tigers came out with a shellacking of on of one the top teams, with 5ish guys out with injuries. They played relatively physical for the whole game, and the depth players weren't getting stepped on.
Next Game
Kamloops tomorrow. I think we'll see another big win. From Reports on the radio tonight, Cody Carlson is likely to play tomorrow fully recovering from a shoulder injury.
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