Tigers head coach Tom Watkins hailed a fresh injection of belief as a key reason behind Sunday night’s dramatic 3-2 win over Swindon Wildcats.
The county men looked to be heading for defeat in the third period, despite scoring first, after Swindon took the lead with two quick goals during the second session.
But a late equaliser – and then that winning strike from Sam Zajac in overtime – secured Telford’s second successive home win.
Peter Szabo equalises for Telford – photo courtesy of Steve Brodie
Watkins, who watched his side deliver a remarkable 49 shots on the Swindon goal, was delighted with that dramatic late effort.
He said: “I said to the guys that I thought we played well for the whole match tonight and put in solid performances all over the ice.
“The other side are bound to get a few goals, but we stuck to what we had to do. We kept putting pucks in on the net, kept battling down low and created a lot of scoring chances.
“The big thing for me is that we didn’t lose our belief. We had a couple of powerplays, and perhaps we weren’t as crisp as we’d like to be.
“But the guys kept doing it and Pete popped in to steal a goal and tie it up.”
A tense encounter saw the English Premier League champions draw first blood on 21 minutes, thanks to captain Jason Silverthorn.
The visitors drew level seven minutes later, before taking the lead at the halfway point of the game.
The match appeared to be drifting towards another loss for Telford, until Peter Szabo struck with just three minutes remaining.
That strike sparked a tense period of overtime, with Sam Zajac scoring the decisive goal just a few minutes later.
Watkins added: “Three on three is great to watch, although it’s easy to say that when you’ve just won. But we created a lot of chances and it was like a game of ping pong, going back and forth.
“Sam Zajac played the last five minutes of the third period and the first two minutes of overtime. It was a great effort and Sam showed some great leadership tonight.”
The Tigers are back in action with two away games next weekend. On Saturday, they travel to face Swindon in Wiltshire, before a trip to Peterborough on Sunday.
The next home game is on October 25th against Milton Keynes (6pm).
You must be logged in to post a comment.