Coming off a poor performance against the Devils, the Red Liners charged into their next game against the FOP Stars C3 North with all the energy they could muster. They knew the Stars had a well deserved reputation for playing physical more than the puck. A full bench of 15 players battled the 14 player Stars bench. In a game that would eventually have a little bit of everything, Bigfield made all of his saves while his offense finally cracked the Stars’ goalie. The Liners went on to win 5-0 and remain in second place in the C3 South Division.
The guys in red spent much of the first period testing the offensive waters around the Stars’ No. 1 goalie. While they were able to easily penetrate through the week FOP defense, Mix fired a loose puck by the far side of the net that bounced around the crease and slit just inside the near post. B-hole would be awarded this eventual game-winning goal. For the rest of the period, the Stars netminder grabbed pucks and skillfully guarded his net. The Liners had two power plays in that period but could not capitalize on them. The Liner defense held back that weak offensive pressure from the FOP Stars in their only power play of the game.
The scoring explosion in the second period was capped off by Twank’s wrist shot through the five hole of a Stars defenseman and off their goalie’s shoulder. A mere ten seconds layer, Easy E would score off his own wrist shot as he charged down the far boards. The Big O had several blistering snapshots through the slot that almost powered their way into the back of the Stars’ net. Davey would grab his first assist of the season after his slapshot from the point bounced behind the Stars’ net and to a waiting Dr. Watson who easily rifled the puck into the empty net.
The scoring pressure by the Liners was turned up even higher at the FOP Stars for the third period. The game was marred by four ejections for fighting (two for both teams) after punches were thrown. Tyty and Dr. Watson would leave the game early. Pope Don Paul and The Headmaster were shifted to offense. The final tally of the game was from after a buzzing Toto and Easy E crated traffic around the Stars’ net. Easy E would eventually dish the puck to a cross-slot sliding Jimmie who lasered the it into the upper Stars’ net. With the running clock winding down, the remaining defense anchored by Queen Steph and Bleech secured the shutout for Bigfield.
With the win, the Liners (6-1-0) keep up with the first place Devils (6-1-0). This FOP Stars C3 team is the better of their two C3 teams (3-3 vs. 2-5). Outside of the penalties, the game was also tarnished by one Liners player receiving verbal and physical sexual harassment. But the Red Liners have learned to take on such adversity, and try to re-educate those around them. Their next opponents are the Screaming Zambonies (1-6-0) on Sunday, Nov 3 at 10:40pm (JIH East).