Tigers On the Right Path

Back to our regularly scheduled program, Twosday was another 2 game night, the Evergreens and Tigers playing on rink B, with the Osprey and Norsemen in the big house, rink C.

Coming in tired from their game the night before, the Tigers were just hoping not to be the second regulation win for the Evergreens, a self proclaimed playoff team.

Shane Whitman nearly started things off on the right foot for the Tigers as he came in alone just 30 seconds into the game.  He went to deke Jamie Wutke but despite being frozen by the fake shot, he got his stick out and knocked away the deke attempt.

Josh McCarther made a nice save on Luke Levangie off the next rush to tie the game at 1 good save apiece.  It was the goalies stealing the show in the first period as neither tendy would allow a goal for a very long stretch in a beer league game.

After being stopped on the backhand in a breakaway in his second shift of the game, Brandon Crowell tried a below the goal line Forsberg which didn’t work.  He even tried passing to Greg Renouf on a 2 on 1, but Cobee MacNaughton got the heel of his stick on the pass and Greg’s shot was backhanded off the side of the post when he got the puck.  Cobee cleared to help out a splayed out Wutke.  But Brandon is a pesky Tiger and when Blake Irvin went to pass puck behind his own net, he hit the net and the puck bounced back from whence it came.  Irvine was long gone by then and Crowell was pouncing.  Wutke realized what was happening and got back to the post in a hurry, but Crowell went farther with the puck and tucked it in 5-hole before Wutke could really get set. 

Down by a goal heading into the second, the Evergreens became motivated to come back.

Ivan Kravchenko came in and fired a shot the Norm Gallant got a leg on.  The puck deflected off the glass and back towards Josh McCarther.  Josh helplessly watched the puck bounced off the back of his leg and across the goal line, Ivan’s 4th goal of the season, extending his career year.

The Lukes combined to get the Evergreens their second in a row as Levangie fed Hawrylak and he one touch roofed it for a beauty goal.  Silas nearly made it 3 in a row as he turned Eric Blanchard inside out and then went in on McCarther.  Blanchard kept working though and got a stick on Silas’s stick, forcing Bonnell to try a deke with McCarther making a quick move on the poke check.  The puck sailed just wide of the post.

Brandon Crowell was quietly discovering that Evergreens grow cherries, and he was picking some when Ron Beaton stole a puck and hit him with a breakaway pass.  Crowell was being pursued by Kenny Shea and Kenny caught him.  Crowell lost the handle as he went to deke.  Wutke went to poke the loose puck away but Crowell regained it, pulled it across the net and put it over the pad of the stretching goalie.  We were tied at 2 with 6:35 left in the second.

The Tigers kept the momentum swinging their way as Kurt Thibault took a pass from Shane Whitman just a minute later and he skated all the way up ice, skating through the slot he outwaited Wutke through traffic and went just under the blocker to put the Tigers up by a goal.   

Dan Keays would seal it with 2:52 left when he put in a rebound.  The Tigers took the 4-2 victory and moved within a point of the Lions in the standings.