Attendance problems plagued both teams at this Sunday night game. Two players from the minors were called up to create a ten person bench. Centro did not have enough players to even start the game. But the Red Liners Howard’s opponents would quickly get on track and pepper them in a similar fashion as their sister team, the Red Liners 95th. Tempers flared on both sides as penalties mounted later in the game. In the end, the Red Liners would fall 12-7.
The first period had Centro down a man for a delay of game penalty but the Liners could not capitalize on the man advantage. Once their remaining players entered the rink, they began to score. Centro would score three unanswered goals before Toe would notch the Liners’ first goal. Queen Anne grabbed Toe’s pass to the point and wrapped it back around the net where B-hole chipped it back to Toe. He skated to the slot and wristed a deflected puck into the Centro’s net. Their opponents would get the last laugh for the period with a final goal in the remaining minutes.
The second period began with more scoring for Centro, two unanswered goals. As before, Toe would try to pull up the Liners. After picking up Bach’s off the glass pass, he froze the Centro netminder as he crossed the slot and wristed the puck into the upper net. Centro would again slide in two more goals before the Liners got back on the board with back to back goals. This time it was Twank who picked up his own clearing pass off the boards. After freezing the Centro goal, Twank managed to slide it just inside the far post. Queen Anne found the back of the net for the Liners’ fourth goal after picking up a loose puck just over the blue line and firing a slapshot that dribbled just under the goalie pads. The period would close would a big boarding hit from Centro’s top scorer.
The third period continued with the double minor power play for the Red Liners. Unfortunately, they could not find the back of the net. Minutes later Centro did find the back of the net. B-hole answered by scoring the Liners’ fifth goal after skating alone off Sundy’s pass. Centro would respond with a goal on their own power play. Twank then responded by catching Toe’s cross-ice pass and lasering the puck through the Centro’s goalie’s five hole. Dr. Nick tried to keep the game close by making several point-blank saves. But just as things seemed to swing toward the Red Liners, the Centro’s top scorer would fire back to back goals. Twank would cap the game with a hat trick after wristing the puck over the Centro’s netminder’s glove.
Once again, another Red Liners team got steamrolled by Centro. The Howard team scored a similar number of goals as the 95th team but they also had difficulty containing the Centro’s best scorer who accounted for eight of their twelve goals. The Liners hope to regroup before their next game against the Polar Vortex on Monday, Aug 4.