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GONE IN 60 SECONDS The Streetsville Tigers were anticipating another exciting game against the rival Mississauga North Stars. The only problem was that quite a few were watching the game with their “civies” on. With the bench being decimated by a combination of injuries, suspensions and nagging aches and pains, the Tigers new an all out team effort wasn’t going to be enough. A little “Lady Luck” would certainly help. The game started as usual with 2 penalties being called within the 1st minute of play. The North Stars mounted a barrage of shots on Matt Emanuele but he was more then up to the challenge including a door slamming pad save that the North Stars thought was a sure goal. Despite being shorthanded once again it was the Tigers who were the opportunist as big Nick Wallace walked in on a breakaway only to be stopped by the fallen Stars goaltender. The Tigers continued to pressure and after some fierce forechecking by Riley Skyba, Dustin Hayward scored the 1st goal of the night and his 4th in 2 games. Tigers continued there spirited play including killing off a 2 man shorthanded situation. As the clock ticked down to the end of the 1st period and yours truly was ready to dash to purchase some popcorn the North Stars tied up the score with 1:04 showing on the clock. Okay maybe now I’ll go. As I started to shuffle down the aisle, the North Stars scored again only 33 seconds after their last one. North Stars take the lead 2-1. Okay now can I go? Nope. With only 4 seconds left, still in the 1st period, the North Stars closed out the scoring with their 3rd goal with only 4 seconds left. Yup that is 3 goals in 60 seconds. Well I lost my appetite. The 2nd period didn’t start any better with on of the North Stars forwards walking through the entire tigers team and a spectacular solo effort to give the North Stars a 4-1 lead. The Tigers were outworked for most of the 2nd period but still found themselves in the game trailing only by 3 goals with one full period still to go. The 3rd period saw the Tigers mount a comeback early with Mark Shiozaki capitalizing on the power play by firing a low slapshot to the shortside. Then it was Dustin Hayward to pad his season stats again with his 2nd of the game and 5th in 2 games. This made the score 4-3 with plenty of time left. The Tigers pressed relentlessly but were not successful in putting the puck past the North Stars goalie who was spectacular. Unfortunately for the Tigers the 60 second lapse at the end of the 1st period was too much to overcome. The North Stars scored a couple of late goals to make the final score 6-3 but not without knowing that they had been in a hard fought game. Another lesson learned for the Tigers in their inaugural season in the AA Division.
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