The McFet 95th Red Liners participated in a re-match against the Northside Riffs last night. A week ago, the Northside Riffs easily beat the Liners 9-2. This time around, the guys and gal in red were hoping for a more competitive game. Though the score did not show it, the Liners came out hard by using their junior players. The Riffs broke out to an early lead but the Liners managed to tie it up. As the periods ticked off, the Riffs would slowly pull ahead and take the second game, 8-4.
Before the start of the first period, the Red Liners’ full bench of thirteen players dropped to 8 as 4 players had been called up to play for the pros. Mixy remained on IR, however. With that, upper management called up 3 more skaters from their regional minor league farm team. At the last minute, two more players went down to scratches do to injuries. Two more skaters from the local junior team were called up to fill in. This mishmash of skaters came out to face the speedy Riffs and had a rough start. The Riffs would rack up two goals on odd man rushes at the Liner goalie, Dr. Funk. A few minor skirmishes on the ice in the first period was a sign of things to come.
The second period began with a renewed effort by the Liners to charge hard against the Riffs. They would get on the scoreboard early in the period after Rocket fun a loose puck by a scramble in the slot. He popped it just inside the near post. Minutes later, the Liners would be on the powerplay. A blocked shot on net by The Druck was cleared weakly to a waiting MK at the blue line. He wristed on the ice, through the traffic, and just past the Riff goalie. But the Riffs would come roaring esp on the back of their top line center. His performance was notable to everyone because of his inordinate amount of complaining of questionable or missed calls by the refs. The Riffs rang in four more goals in the second period including one off the penalty kill where a lobbed clearing pass from their zone flew down the ice, deflected off the Liner goalie, and slid into the net. The Liners would also lose one of their two centers half way through the period which caused more problems with the line up. He was hipchecked by the Riff goalie as he charged the net with the puck. A confrontation and fight with a Riff player ended with both players being ejected.
The third period was more of a back and forward affair. With eleven skaters, the Liners tried to create consistent offensive threats and more physical play. The Riffs would again strike first but the Liners would quickly answer with Pete’s wrister into the upper corner off Evan’s faceoff win. Minutes later, the Riff would score their final goal, their 8th. But the Liners would soon respond in an almost dead play. A clearing attempt by the Riff was kept in by Theo at the Riff blue line who dished it off to Marooney. He then dished it back to Theo who rifled it at the Riff goalie. The block shot rebounded to a waiting Druck who went wide and slipped the puck just inside the far post. The complaints of a missed offsides call by the Riff were easily heard for a couple of minutes.
With the season coming to a close, the McFet 95th will end up with three wins and two OT losses. The level of play was obviously higher than in the past season. The split of the previous McFet Red Liners team did dilute the talent which made it more difficult for the teams to compete. The 95th Red Liners await the start of the playoffs in 2 weeks where they hope to have a better outcome than in the regular season.