After their strong outing against the tough Rats C3, the Red Liners tried to copy that strategy against the even stronger Devils. Unfortunately, the Devils had a similar idea. The teams would play to a draw until late into the third period when the Devils would take the lead for good.
For the first time this season, the Liners dressed 17 players for this second round playoff game: 3 centers, 4 pairs of wings, and 3 pairs of defensemen. Bigfield was manning the net. Starting at the first faceoff, the Devils came charging quickly at the Liners. Incredibly, the Liners would end up 5-3 powerplay for 1:44, but had trouble maintaining offensive pressure. They could not capitalize with their few shots on goal. Once the penalty was over, the Devils responded quickly with the first goal of the game off a quick breakaway through the Liners D. For the rest of the period, the Liners kept their cool and had several sustained attacks on the Devils’ net. They did kill one penalty off a hooking penalty to Pauly. But that penalty would be the first of 4 straight unanswered penalties for the Liners which would elevated and eventually cost the Liners the game.
The second was more a back and forth affair. The offensive pressure seemed to switch to the Liners as the captains urged the team to take more shots on the Devils’ net. They also killed their second penalty early in the period. Bleech would record the first of three tripping penalties for the Liners. But it would be Doc’s poorly called tripping penalty that would lead to the Liners tying the game. Dr. Watson scored a shorthanded goal off a Judge Jimmie’s goal attempt. There will be no further penalties or scoring for the period.
With both teams tied, the desperation was high on both teams but especially for the Devils. They had lost only once in the last 14 tries. The eventual game winning goal came after another questionable tripping penalty to Baby just a few minutes into the final period. The Devils showcase an impress powerplay as they kept the puck in the Liners’ zone and had multiple shots on net for 1 minute straight. One of these shots would slip past Bigfield. For the remaining 11 1/2 minutes, the Liners through everything they had at the Devils. There were several close scoring chances including a loose puck in front of the Devils’ net that was just out of reach for Judge Jimmie. In the final minute, Bigfield was pulled from the net. The extra attacker would not add enough pressure to tie the game.
It was a very close game that hinged on several questionable penalties. The Liners had 4 straight penalties with the last 3 were all tripping calls. But the team knows that more work needs to be done on all fronts. They will have about 2 weeks to regroup before the start of the next season. The CGHA will also be having a second team at the McFetridge Sports Center featuring a slightly lower level team. They will round out their teams with an instructional clinic/internal league starting in about a month at American Heartland Ice Arena.