FOXBORO - The Old Dogs were muzzled by the Penguins on Tuesday night as they fell 8-4 in what will go down as an extremely tumultuous tilt. The Old Dogs came out of the gate early with a goal 1:00 into the first period. The puck shot by the Dogs forward managed to rebound off of the Penguins net minder Christopher Roode, hit his brother and fellow defenseman Ryan Roode off his chest, and trickle into the net. Determined to show his team that he can not only score with his chest on his own goal, and brother, 8:18 into the period he rushed the puck down the ice, tripped over the Dogs Defenseman, and while he slid along the ice simultaneously chest-passed the puck to a wide open Sean Hickey who blazed one by the Dogs goalie top corner. R. Roode commented that he "really looks up to Bruins Defenseman Andrew Ference and his puck moving skills and tries to mimic his on- and off-ice tendencies" and has really "taken to an organic/vegetarian only diet and bicycle riding to conserve the environment" like Ference.
Shortly later on the same shift, 10:22 into the period, S. Hickey connected with his brother, Patrick Hickey, on the far post as he slipped the puck past the Dogs goalie to make it 2-1. Not to be topped, about two minutes later the Dogs zipped their second past C. Roode to tie the game up at 2.
The second period was relatively quiet. A goal came from the Old Dogs 1:07 into the period. Then, an eruption occurred which brought back distant memories from the senior citizens and their pace-makers who sat amidst the pact crowd in Foxboro. Steve Tragakis, having received a smooth break-out pass in center-ice from Jon Tenaglia, busted down the right-wing like a bustling Milan Lucic, exploding past the left-defenseman, drove to the net and in vintage Bobby Orr fashion, slid the puck past the Dogs goalie as he tripped over him which sent him flying into the air, arms stretched, as the crowd roared.
Then the fire broke out again in Tragakis as he forcefully removed the first line of the Hickey bros. and John Wilmot to start the third period. S. Hickey was questioned about the move after the game by correspondent Yako Fukaiamo and said, "yeah, we [Hickeys and Wilmot] were bulls**t, he scores one goal and all of as sudden he thinks his line can start periods, he thinks he's Bobby f'ing Orr". But :58 seconds into the period the modified OML line went on a tear with goals coming from Matt Dimock, who launched a puck top corner, and John Lufty, who sniped one by low right- side. This all coming from the first shift in the period. Not to be outmatched, the Hickey-Wilmot line responded with a quick goal coming from P. Hickey with a pass from his brother to make the game 6-3.
“Our line did pretty well,” commented Sean Hickey after the game. “But Tragakis is the single, greatest thing to happen to hockey since the invention of ice. I don’t know who invented ice, but I can tell you he was a great man. Tragakis is up there with that level of greatness. I learned a lot from him out there tonight, and hope he will let me skate on his line in the future.
The Dogs would tally one last goal to make it 6-4 before the Penguins would finally burry the bone. However, due to a devastating concussive injury, Dimock was left out of the game as he spent the final 15 minutes of the game in "the quiet room" per NESHL protocol for concussions. This left one center remaining, S. Hickey, who with 12:30 into the third, found himself with Tragakis on his wing. The two parsed their differences and in a showcase of true offensive prowess passed to each other down the ice in a series of give-and-go's, until finally, S. Hickey slid the puck between the Dogs defenseman's skates to an open Tragakis who one-timed the puck past the goalie. It seemed the two had settled their heated in-game rivalry. Finally, S. Hickey blew past a Dogs defender with seconds remaining on the clock to slide a puck into an open net. The final score: 8-4 win for the Penguins as they inch themselves one point closer to the Herd in the standings for a third place spot and their opponent for the next game which is sure to be a play-off like atmosphere with 3rd place on the line.
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