Sooo Close!

This evening, Richard and I attended the Sound Tigers playoff game against the Connecticut Whale in Hartford. The Tigers had lost the first 2 games (of 5) in Bridgeport, so this was a do or die game for them. In fact, the Tigers had been shut out in both games.

We arrived at the XL Center early enough to watch the teams warm up. We got $5 seats which turned out to be pretty decent.

I was hoping that the Tigers would win 3-2 like they during the previous 2 games we attended this season. But I got a foreshadowing of the ending when I discovered that my cell phone (& camera) was suffering a dead battery (I hope that was all it was).

The game turned out to be a real nail biter. The Whale scored first and the thought occurred that the Tigers could be swept in 3 games and shut out in all. But it was not to be as the Tigers finally scored a goal. Then they actually took the lead 2-1 but the Whale tied it up. With 15 minutes to go in the 3rd period, the Whale went ahead 3-2, but the Tigers tied it up and regulation time ended with a tie.

So the game went into sudden death overtime (after a regular 20-minute intermission). Now we were really chewing our nails. About 10 minutes into the period, the Whale prevailed and the game and the series was over. Although it was a thrilling game, we went home tired and disappointed that the Tigers had come sooo close but not close enough.

But I take comfort in my Cleveland heritage that there is always next year!