Telford Tigers shook off the cobwebs of a lengthy Christmas break to beat EPL title chasers Milton Keynes Lightning 3-0 in their first game of 2016.
Friday night’s win followed an 11-day absence from competitive action, after games scheduled for December 26th and 27th were postponed.
Victory at the Thunderdome provided a timely fillip for the Tigers players, who are in the middle of a demanding run of four games in six days.
That sequence continues tomorrow when they welcome Manchester Phoenix to Telford – and head coach Tom Watkins was delighted with his squad’s return to action.
He said: “I was a bit disappointed that our game away to Manchester on December 27th was cancelled, as that left us with no match for 11 days.
“With training schedules over Christmas, that gave us with some concerns. But we started really well tonight and got into the game early on, which was important.
“The guys made some solids hits and looked very confident on the puck. It was encouraging to see them do the little things really well.”
Captain Jason Silverthorn broke the deadlock after 12 minutes against Milton Keynes, during what proved to be a tense opening period.
That continued in the second session, as both Sam Zajac and Peter Szabo collected roughing penalties just before the halfway point of the game.
Blaho Novak doubled Telford’s advantage with a powerplay goal on 37 minutes, following an interference penalty for Lightning import Frantisek Bakrlik.
And following a frantic final period – during which both sides came agonisingly close to scoring – Jonathan Weaver sealed the points with a late empty net goal.
Watkins added: “We have been excellent defensively over the last few games, but that isn’t just down the defencemen. It has been a whole team effort.
“All the guys have bought into it. They’re blocking shots, battling on the wall and clearing the puck in front of the net.
“We played well tonight and everyone was very committed. We didn’t give away many chances and Sam did all he needed to do in goal.
“The big difference was that we scored two powerplay goals and killed our penalties. Our special teams were excellent and the whole team was top notch tonight.”
The Tigers host Manchester Phoenix at Telford Ice Rink on Saturday evening (6pm), before travelling to face Bracknell Bees on Sunday.
They then face Hull Pirates, again at Telford Ice Rink, on Wednesday night (7.30pm).
You must be logged in to post a comment.