Nine is Not Enough for Tyrrell and the Slayers

The Sunnydale Slayers and Lite-Sabres entered Tuesday night’s game heading in opposite directions. The Slayers had lost their last two games, including a demoralizing 19-11 defeat at the hands of the LAN Hackers. On the other hand, the Lite-Sabres were riding a two-game win streak, a complete 360 turnaround after losing their first two games of the season. The two teams, both members of the “Original Four” club, have developed a bit of a rivalry over the past couple years, meeting in the playoffs three of the past four seasons.

Sabres defensemen Roger Park, looking a little weary after playing another hockey game earlier in the evening, got the Sabres off to a good start, scoring on a long, low screen shot. But the rest of the first period belonged to Slayer sniper Rob Tyrrell, who scored the only four other goals, including a tally with less than a minute to go in the frame.

Tyrrell made it five in a row, scoring the first goal of the second period, giving the Slayer a comfortable 5-1 lead. But for the third consecutive game, the Sabres began to find their rhythm in the second period. Two goals by Sabres forward Mark Flinn and one by Chad Griffin cut the Slayer’s lead to a single goal. Tyrrell and Flinn traded goals at the end of the period to make the Slayer’s lead 6-5 with 15 minutes to play.

Less than 30 seconds into the final stanza, Tyrrell struck again, sneaking a tough angle shot past Sabre goaltender Chris McMaster. But the Sabres, who dropped a forward back to play defense in the third period to help their fatigued defensive core, came back with two straight goals to tie the game at seven midway thru the period.

Looking for a spark of their own, the Slayer turned to who else, but Rob Tyrrell. Tyrrell scored goals eight and nine from Gian Scalet passes to give the Slayers another two-goal margin.

But a goal by Sabres rookie defenseman Neil Cameron cut the lead to one, before a gritty goal by Chad Griffin tied the game again with mere minutes to play. Cameron proved to have the decisive goal in him, to give the Sabres a 10-9 lead, their first lead of the game since they were up 1-0. The Slayers didn’t threaten again, and the Sabres held on for a hard-fought 10-9 victory.

Tyrrell’s nine goal performance makes him the league’s leading goal scorer, with other leaders Scott Mulcahy and Tony Joyce having a game in hand. Tyrrell had scored nine goals on one other occasion, in the 2001B season. It was the fifth time in league history that a player has scored at least nine goals without getting an assist.

Notes: Rob Tyrrell passed Kenzie Royal to become the league’s sixth all-time leading goal scorer…Gian Scalet tied absent teammate Kevin Haddad for second position on the league’s all-time assist leader list…It was only the fourth time in Spiro Bokolas’ 76-game career that he’s been held pointless…Other players to record at least nine goals without an assist: Chad Griffin (11), Nov. 15th 2000; Tony Joyce (10), Mar. 18th 2004; Scott Mulcahy (9), Dec. 2nd 2004; Greg Foran (9), November 18th, 1999.