NS Red Liners Fall Short and Lose 7-4 in First Game of 2013.

The North Shore Red Liners came back from a one month holiday to meet Team Charros for the third team. The previous confrontations had been relatively close affairs compared to games against other teams. Coming off their first win of the season, the guys and gal in red tried to continue the winning momentum. This was also be the first Red Liners' game for Mikey as well as Chris's first every league game. With the return of Bleech, the scoring for the Liners continued but the Charros scored several times off odd-man rushes. In the end, it would be the Liners' opponents who would leave tonight with a win.

The first period began with both teams sizing up each other as neither team could mount a sustained offensive threat. The Charros did score first off a puck that slipped through the five hole of the Liner's goalie. but the Liners would quickly respond with a goal of their own. Toto puck handled behind the Charros net and tried to tip a pass to a waiting Yaz in the slot whose shots were blocked. Bleech would grab a rebound and shoot it just past the Charros' goalie. Before the period was over Charros would score a second goal and take the lead for good.

The second period continued the scoring on both sides. The

opponents again got the first goal of this period off an odd-man rush that split the defensive pair. In response, Bleech would get his second goal of the game and pull the Liners within one goal. Sobo would block a clearing pass and throw the puck back around the Charros' net. Toto again tried to toss the puck into the slot. Bleech again would take charge and slap the puck into the net. The opponents would answer with back to back goals of their own. One was off a swing to a loose puck almost covered by the Liner's goalie. The other goal was off another odd-man rush. The period would close with a goal from Toto off a crazy pinball-like play. Bleech shot the puck from the far circle at the Charros' net. The rebound ended in the middle slot where Yaz passed it backwards toward the net. Toto tried to pop in the rebound but it was weakly cleared into the slot where Sobo grabbed it and flung it back at the net. Toto eventually dragged the puck across the cr

ease and just past the sprawled goalie and put it just inside the near post.

Still trailing their opponents, the Red Liners tried to crank up the offense in the third

and final period. Again, Charros would score first in the period. Toto would also notch his second goal of the game by picking up a loose rebound in the slot. Halfway through the third period, 3 penalties were called within 4 minutes. Initially, the Liners were done a man but then ended up down two men after another 30 seconds. They were able to kill a minute off of this two man penalty and draw a penalty on Team Charros who were unable to score with the 4-3 advantage. The Liners did go on the power play with a minute left in that penalty but were unable to score. Charros would net one more goal before the game was over.

The Liners came out strong but succumb to odd-man rushes that lead to several goals that tipped the goal advantage to their opponents. With the team at the half season mark, there is no doubt that the team is stronger, more cohesive, and more competitive that initially. Like every team, there is still lots of work to do. Practice sessions will continue to be a staple for the team as it look toward its second win of the season.