Last night was all about playoff positioning.
The Tigers were up first and met up with the Sled Dogs. Going into the game the Dogs were one point ahead of us in fourth place (and the top four teams go into the playoffs). This was do or die for the Tigers.
Unfortunately, we didn’t rise to the occasion. It started out well enough with Adam picking up the opening goal. But the Dogs turned it on more and we got sloppy. The Dogs won 6-2 (Adam also picked up our second goal as he played a really great game last night).
I was disappointed in the loss, but I had a good time with the game. I felt like I played well. My defense was pretty good, doing most of the right things. I had three offensive rushes last night, two of which saw solid shots on net. The third was just bad. I’m not sure how it happened, but I dropped way to low before making the shot, meaning I had really no shot. I was not happy with myself. The shot was stupid to make, I should’ve circled around their net and tried to reset on the other side, but I just wasn’t thinking fast enough.
The Tigers biggest problem was a lack of follow through in the defensive zone. A puck would get dislodged from the opposition, but often there was no follow through to get the puck out of the zone completely. This allowed the Dogs to regroup far to often to keep up their offensive barrage.
For the Wizards it was also a losing night, but we didn’t lose our playoff position… yet. We played a tight 3-2 game against the Tsunami. It was one of the best games I’m ever seen the Wizards play and we held up well against the top team in the division.
It was a solid game for me. I picked up an assist, which was great. Plus I was making good defensive choices and actually executing them as well. I appreciated hearing that from some of my teammates as well. The Wizards are always supportive, but more than one person commented on the good game I played last night and that was good to hear. It felt really good to play the fast aggressive game last night. I think if the Wizards play like this again next week, we’ll clinch our playoff slot. Next week is a do or die for the Wizards.
I did skip Ronnie’s in the morning. My knee injury from last week was really cranky at the end of the week and I decided to take Saturday morning off. If I’m going to hurt it worse, it might as well be playing in games rather than in practice. Luckily, the knee survived the night feeling pretty good and is in good shape this morning as well. I’m hopeful I’ll get back to Ronnie’s next week.
