The Red Liners marched toward the end of the season trying to keep their winning streak alive. After slaying their last 2 opponents, the guys in red met up with the guys in green. Onlookers from the stands commented that this game would've been more appropriate on Christmas Day. Their opponents, the Centurions, had been the farm team for several of the Liners. This family reunion initially proved a close affair. But once the offense got rolling, the Liners went on to an easy 7-2 victory.
The two well-stocked teams tried to establish dominance in the first period. The Liners did have several brief offensive rushes but without any goals as the Centurions' goalie was reading shots very well. The centers for the opponents, Foster and DiVito, also stickhandled their way deep into the Liners' defense and also threw shots at the net. The first and only goal of the period was by the Centurions off a loose puck in front of Dr. Nick.
The Liners doubled up their effort in the second period as their opponents proved to be tougher than expected from their record. The scoring started after our local Red Hawk corralled the puck on the near boards in the neutral zone. Tyty received a cross ice pass, pushed his way deep into the Centurions defense, and passed it to a waiting Teddy in the slot who backhanded it up into the net. The Hawk came back to score one himself. Davy started the run by passing the puck to a streaking Teddy. After crossing into the Centurions' zone, he dished it off to the Hawk who fired it just inside the far post. Teddy would get his second goal off a rebound. The Eng shot a wrist shot from the far circle. The rebound landed in front of the empty net where a waiting Teddy easily tapped it in. The action turned up on the only penalty for the second period. The Liners were on the penalty kill. Sobo and Captain K kept the pressure on the Centurions. Baby almost scored on a wayward puck in the neutral zone. As it slowly crossed into the Cens' zone, their netminder and Baby both skated after it but it would be the goalie to win that contest and knock it back out. However, the Hawk would come back and notch a shorthanded goal after slipping past the forechecking Cen's defense and dekeing the goalie. However, the Centurions would get their second goal after the Liners had trouble clearing out the puck near their blue line.
The Liners continued the offensive attack early in the third period. For the team's fifth goal, Baby sprinted quickly with the puck out of the neutral zone. As he crossed into the Centurions' zone, he fell but was able to swat the puck across the puck to The Eng who hit a wrist shot past the Cens' netminder. Just a minute later, Teddy was called for a roughing penalty though his stick was thrown in the scruffle. The Centurions were unable to score on their power play. Scoring became stagnant for most of the third period even though the iners did have a power play of their own at the 10 minute mark. Though several shots were taken, none could get into the back of the net. In the final two minutes, the Liners would notch two more goals in solo plays. Baby went one-on-one against a Cens' defenseman and took a wrist shot just inside the near goal post. With seconds left to play, The Hawk got his hattrick with just 19 seconds left in the game as he skate through the far circle and fired a wristshot just inside the far goal post.
The Liners are now on a three game winning streak with only three games left to play. They are tied for 2nd place with three other teams. Their next game will be against the Blades of Steel who have an opposite record as them (5-13-0 vs. the Liner's 13-5-0). Their biggest remaining matchup will likely be against the Immortals who are also 13-5-0 at this time. Also Dr. Nick is currently in second place for winningest goalie for the division. Next game is on Tuesday, Feb 12 at 10:10pm (Johnny's Ice House East).