Tigers Defeat Hitmen 5-0

Player Notes
Kellan Tochkin was out with a suspected concussion.

Kale Kessy was sitting the last game of his 5 game suspension he should be back on Tuesday against Kootenay.

Scott Mackay was playing up at forward.
Trevor Cox played his first regular season game at the Arena.


Summary
Tigers started off the game a little bit on thier heels as they didnt get a shot on net untill at least 12 minutes went by. Despite this the Tigers defenceman did a real good job at clearing away any rebounds and most of the hitmen shots were coming from the outside.

The momentum changed on a delayed penalty when Hunter Shinkaruk did his patented quick wrap-around to score his 8th of the season.

In the second period the Tigers came out with a bang scoring 3 straight goals in the first 4 minutes of the second period to take a commanding 4-0 lead, chasing Calgary's starter Brandon Glover. Tough game for him as he had a very calm first period then a flurry of activity in the second.

Dylan Bredo fired a sneaky bad angle shot with 9 seconds left in the game to cap the Tigers scoring at 5 goals.

The Tigers took a couple penalties late in the game but Tyler Bunz stood tall to get his first shutout of the season.

-------
Emerson Etem with his 4 assists tonight is now tied for the scoring lead with 21 points with Brandon's Mark Stone.

Hunter Shinaruk'sis now tied for 2nd in the league in goals with 9.
Etem is first with 13.

Thoughts
I liked the play of the rookie Line of Rhyse Dieno, Jayden Hart, and Trevor Cox. Dieno had one hiccup during the game but all 3 of them are smart players with skill. The TIgers have pretty good offensive depth with those guys as thier 4th line.

Earlier during a pre-season game I mentioned that Trevor Cox looked out of place during that game, well Today I know why the Tigers have kept him. Despite his size he plays a dirty shirt style of hockey always fighting for the puck, is very quick, good offensive and defensive instincts, and shows a good deal of skill.

I liked Matt Konan stepping up and looking for offensive opportunities on the powerplay. I thought Dylan Busenius is starting to show the smarts and consistency of a 2nd line defenceman. Hope he keeps playing smart in his own end.

The Tigers still have trouble clearing the zone on thier first attempt. It seems to be a common theme the last 3-4 years where they need 2-3 attempts to clear.

Cole Grbavac looks like he is slumping a little bit. He needs to keep his feet moving, keep throwing those body-checks, and simplify his game.

I liked Scott Mckay's physical presence at forward. He was consistent with his checks, and was very repsposnible in his own end of the ice. He had a couple hiccups offensively with a pass or two but no major mistakes.