With an error in the brackets, the Red Liners switched from playing against the Fireballs to the Irish Clowns. Their only matchup resulted in an 8-2 drubbing by the Liners. The first minute of this game would predict the rest of the game.
With less than 1 minute off the clock in the first period, the Red Liners struck first. Jeff popped a Clown clearing pass out of the Liners’ defensive zone to Ty who skated it deep into the far corner in the Clowns’ side of the ice. Once pressured, he dished it back to a waiting Druck who fired an arced slapshot through B-hole’s screen and past the unflinching Clown goalie. However, the rest of the period had neither team scoring. In fact, both teams had difficulty sustaining any type of offensive threat.
The second period started out strong for the Liners with the same line that scored the first goal pressuring the Clowns with several shots on net. On the Liners first powerplay at 1:50, they were unable to capitalize. Thinks got a bit physical minutes later Easy E swung at a puck the Clowns’ goalie had just gloved, hitting the glove. The Clowns’ D thought it was a late hit and tried to retaliate. After more words were traded, Easy E had his helmet pulled off by one of the Clowns’ D who was kicked out of the game for throwing off his gloves. No man advantage was given to either team. The Liners would have a second power play about a minute later but again could not capitalize on it. But they would get their second goal just after the power play expired. Mixy picked up a lose puck in the near corner in the Clowns’ zone. He passed it into the slow where it deflected off a Clown D and right to a waiting Dr. Watson in the slot who easily slid it just inside the far post. The Clowns would try some offensive threats on their own with their own power play in the waning minutes but they remained off the scoreboard.
The third period began with the Liners killing the remainder of Judge Jimmy’s hooking penalty which they did. Both teams went back and forth with Bigfield making several great puck grabs and blocks off rapid shots from the Clowns. The Liners increased their lead by Toto’s first goal. Jessie O lobbed the puck out of the Liners defensive zone to a racing Pauly. He slide a cross slot pass to a waiting Toto in front of the Clown net and popped it through the goalie’s five hole. The Clowns kept the pressure on until the very end. Their goalie made some key saves to keep the score unchanged. The Judge would ice the game with a last second goal. He won the faceoff and dished the puck back to Druckee at the point who chipped a slapshot. The shot rebounded where Jimmie kicked it across the slot and popped a backhand shot into the upper net.
While this game was a bit more lopsided than expected, the Red Liners next game will no doubt be a tough one. This quarterfinal game will be against the Devils (3/31 at 9:50pm) who beat the the Liners 7-1. Granted this game had only 9 Liners suited (with some of their sobriety in question and having a backup goalie) against 7 Devils (2 who are now on injured reserved). Early scouting and bookmakers think this game will be much closer than their previous matchup indicates. With an expected full and sober Red Liners bench, the game should be an exciting one. Also with the top seeded, Nutty Squirrels, knocked out of the playoffs, this maybe the best chance for the Red Liners to capture a championship.