With several injured players, the McFet Red Liners called up two players from their minor league team, the Heartland Red Liners. Mr. Powers and the Thai Guy was serviced into the left and ring winger roles for the second offensive line. The Missile, Rocket’s doppelganger, was signed up for a one game contract to play goal for the Blacksheep and played outstanding.
Queen Anne would get the game’s first goal off a screened slapshot from the point. The Blacksheep did have some shots on net but The Director kept them out of the Liners’ net. The second period began with another quick goal off a lobbed pucked from AJ. But the Blacksheep got on the board after popping in a blocked shot left right in front of the empty Liners’ net. The Line of B-hole, Kryan, and Dirky pushed the goal spread back to two goals after a pass across the goal crease deflected into the Blacksheep net. However, the Sheep did not let up. Their top defenseman fired a rocket slapshot from the point to again pull them within one goal. The final goal for the period was a pinball goal from the Hole-Kryan-Dirky line that no one is sure how it went in.
But the Sheep’s netminder also turned up his game for the third period. He did not let any further goals in for the third period. However, the Sheep’s top defenseman again fired two more rocket slapshots, from the near point and the far circle, that someone sliced their way into the Liners’ net. The guys and gal in red could not even capitalize on a shorten powerplay at the end of regulation to steal a win. In the OT shootout, the Director stopped the predictable slapshot from the Sheep’s top defenseman. The Missile blocked B-hole’s OT attempt. The Sheep would score on their second attempt off a deke with the puck just slipping inside the far post. Dirky was able to tie the score by dekeing the Sheep’s netminder. Finally, the Sheep scored on their final attempt while Twank was stonewalled by the goalie.
While it was another tough OT loss for the Red Liners, the overall play was a better than their previous game. The offensive pressure was more sustained. The hattrick from their obvious ringer in this league played a role in the loss. They will continue to work on backchecking faster, covering the points better, and coordinating their offensive attacks. Their next game is a rematch against the Blacksheep on Monday, Feb. 24 at 10:50pm.