Tom Watkins has called for “ugly goals” from his Tigers side after watching them round off the weekend with a 2-0 defeat at home to Peterborough Phantoms.
The county men enjoyed the vast majority of possession on Sunday evening, eventually outscoring the visitors by 41 shots to 22.
But they struggled to find a way past import netminder Janis Auzins, who put in a Man of the Match performance to collect his shut-out.
And Watkins believes his strikers must “step up” to solve their current goals drought.
He said: “We will be focusing in the things that have cost us in training next week, but ultimately the forwards have got to find a way of putting the puck in the back of the net.
“You can look at one of the Peterborough goals, when it hit the netminder’s chest and bounced into the net.
“The only way we’re going to beat some of these guys is to get in front of them, screen the net and score some ugly goals.”
The first period remained goalless as both sides struggled to beat some determined defending, with Tigers netminder Sam Gospel enjoying his first start of the year.
But it was in the second period that Telford’s luck began to turn, as they fell behind to a Phantoms goal at the halfway point of the game.
And a fighting match penalty for youngster Blaho Novak made matters worse at the start of the third period, leaving The Tigers shorthanded.
That penalty gave Peterborough the chance to score their second goal of the night on 45 minutes, condemning Telford to their fourth loss of the league season.
Watkins added: “It was naive, stupid and selfish of Blaho to take that penalty, as it’s ultimately cost us the game. We were killing a five on four for five minutes and they got a powerplay goal.
“That knocked our confidence and deflated us at a time when we had our belief. He’s a young guy who made a mistake and we’ve got to come back hard.”
Those statistics do, however, illustrate a dominant performance from Telford – and Watkins is expecting leadership from his strike force.
“We are playing well and creating good chances, but our top end forwards need to step up,” he said.
“We need leadership from them to make sure we take advantage of that possession and quality play.”
The Tigers are back in action next weekend, when they travel to face Basingstoke Bison on Saturday, before the visit of Bracknell Bees on Sunday.
For tickets, go to www.tigershockeyuk.com.
NIHL:
Jason Parry has warned his Tigers NIHL side “won’t be intimidated” after they emerged from Sunday’s trip to Whitley Warriors with their pride intact – despite eventually losing 4-3.
Telford’s youngsters were greeted by a traditional physical welcome from the North East side, with Daniel Croft fighting Whitley’s Andre Payette on the first whistle.
That encounter sparked a tough evening for The Tigers, who found themselves 3-0 down after 38 minutes – before enjoying a late rally.
Parry, who watched his team beat Solway Sharks 6-3 on Saturday, remained proud of their efforts at one of the toughest rinks in the league.
He said: “Whitley is a really tough place to go and it can be intimidating, but we stood up to them well. We deserved to take some points from the game.
“Crofty stood up to Payette at the start and Callum Bowley had a fight as well, which shows we won’t be intimidated. They were trying to do that from the warm-up.”
Telford dismantled Whitley’s three-goal cushion in the third period with goals from Adam Taylor, James Smith and Karol Jets.
But the Warriors broke Tigers’ hearts with a fourth – and winning strike – just three minutes from time.
Parry added: “It was a good, solid road game, but the bounces just didn’t go our way. At 3-0 down we kept going, but they got a goal right at the end.
“A lot of teams will go to Whitley and at 3-0 down in the second period, won’t have the fight that we did. We kept skating, doing the right things and were rewarded for our hard work at 3-3.
“At the end we had nearly killed a powerplay, but they just snuck a goal with a few seconds of it left.”
The Tigers NIHL are back in action next weekend, when they travel to face Billingham Stars on Sunday night.
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