In a season that has testing the mental toughness of all players on the Heartland Red Liners, one would guess that their first win of the season would be an epic one. And it was.
There were no specific highlights for most of the game. The 15 player bench lead by assistance captain Big Daddy matched up well with Chrisy G. The offense showed brief periods of strong playing. They kept the puck moving to his wingers and chased down loose ones. The defense tried to trap their opponents. Rocket in goal had a picture perfect day as he stopped all the shots on him. As the remaining seconds ticked off, both sides envision earning a tie and going to the shootout. However PJ had a different idea. with 10 seconds left in the game, he picked up the loose puck and skate toward the Chrisy G netminder. His backhand shot bounced off the goalie’s right leg pad to a waiting Kodi who quickly popped it over higher over the blocker and into the upper net. There was 4.3 seconds remaining on the clock.
Everyone acknowledged individual efforts but also stressed the team effort to keep the flow of the game in control. They do admit that line changes have to be addressed as several shifts were noted to be at least 2 minutes long. This is not completely unexpected in a beginner team. Their next game on is against Jokerit (Monday, June 23 at 9pm) where they hope to extend their winning streak to two games.