The Johnny’s Red Liners could’ve felt they were being setup for a loss tonight. They were playing a late-night game against another first place team in the C3 North division, the Rusty Blades (9-1). The Blades only other loss was against another high rank team, the Warriors. With Dr. Nick on the injured reserve, the Music Man was called up to fill the space between the pipes. Captain Toto spotted the short bench for the Blades and decided to promote a fast-based game which would tired out his opponents. Of note, the Blades are used to having short benches as they usually only have 9-10 players a game.
The guys and gal in red started the first period on the offensive. The puck appeared to be spending of the time around the Blades’ net. In the few scoring chances that the Blades had, the defensive play by The Druck and Queen Steph along with th Liners’ netminder kept the Blades at bay. The first and only goal for this period was off a beautiful pass by The Druck in the Liners’ zone. He flicked a bouncing pass through the legs of a Blade skater to Toto as he was crossing the offensive blue line. Skating unhindered, he played his patented scoring play #2: skating at the goalie’s right side, drift toward the goalie’s left side, cut and skate just in front of the crease, and backhand the puck just over the goalie’s right pad. The Red Liners did have two power play changes but could not score on them. The period ended with the Red Liners up 1-0.
The second period started out on a difficult note after a slashing penalty by Davey, but it would be Baby who’d catch the Blades off-guard. Doc cleared a powerplay shot across the slot to Justin, the Plumber who bounced it to just past the blue line. Baby fought with a Blades’ player and eventually tip it deep into the neutral zone. With most of the Blades unable to backcheck quick enough, Baby picked up the lose puck and skated deep along the near boards. He was able to cut toward the goal along the goal line and backhanded it off the back of the Blades’ goalie and into their net. The Blades’ were stunned with the improbable short handed goal and been down two goals which has never happened in any game this season. The Liners would continue with the scoring by taking advantage of another powerplay opportunity. Davey picked up a loose rebound in the Liners’ zone and dished it up to The Plumber. He then passed it to a waiting Tyty. He skating his way through 3 Blades’ players and into the offensive zone. After he broke free of his opponents, Tyty fired a wristshot past the Blade goalie and almost collapsed while celebrating.
The Music Man would have the most talked about play of the game toward the end of the second period. The Blades’ best skater skated almost unhindered at the Liners’ net where the goalie had left the near side empty. This skater fired at the net for a guaranteed goal, but The Music Man dove and gloved the shot to the astonishment of the Blades again. The Blades would get on the board as the Liners would have trouble clearing the puck which allowed their opponents to score a goal past the screened Liners’ goalie.
No one was sure who had the momentum at the start of the third period. The Blades did come with one goal of tying the game after they scored within the first minute of the period. The Red Liners regrouped and would score the next goal off another improbable play. Doc grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone and bobble it toward B-Hole at the offensive blue line. He tipped the puck across the ice to a waiting Baby who got stood up by the Blades. Baby fired a soft pass toward the slot where B-hole deflected backwards to a waiting Toto who fired it into the empty side of Blades’ net. With about half the period left, the Red Liners went into defensive mode and ran the lock by continually dumping the puck deep in the Blades’ zone. The Blades would make the game exciting after scoring when the Liners’ had trouble clearing the puck off a defensive zone face off. With 90 seconds left in the game and anticipating the Blades’ would pull their goalie, the Red Liners were able to keep the puck in the offensive zone by covering both points, controlling the area behind the net, and keeping the puck puck against the boards. The Blades did pull their goalie with only 10 seconds left but never got a chance to fling the puck at the Liners’ net.
In another test of the team’s skills, the Red Liners passed with flying colors, now defeating the first place teams of both sections. They also displayed their creativity with 4 unusual goals. Finally, the backup Red Liners netminder was awarded the game puck for stealing a goal from the Blades. The depth of this season’s Red Liners is quit obvious. They now know they have a chance to beat any team in the C3 division. They hope to continue their winning ways with their next game against the FOP Stars-C3 North on Dec. 8. Afterwards, they will have their hands full with 3 more games against the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seeds of the C3 North Division.