Facing off the #2 Seed Watchmen, the McFet 95th Red Liners had a tough challenge to face as they had the #7 seed. The first period was a back and forth affair the solid goaltending by Dr. Funk kept the Watchmen scoreless. On the other end, the forwards were able to keep pucks flying at the Watchmen goalie who made several key stops to keep it 0-0. But B-hole would get the first score of the game a cross slot pass from El Grande. In front of the net, he deflected the pass past the unsuspecting netminder.
The second period momentum swung back to the Watchmen as the long ice changes seemed to be wearing out the Red Liners. The Watchmen’s first goal of a net crash was called because of a man-in-the-crease call. But seconds later, the Watchmen would find a loose puck near the net and pop it past the Liner goalie.
The third period would swing back to the Red Liners as the Watchmen began to be called for more penalties. After a hit to Pete Bertuzzi that required him to be helped off the ice, the Liners could not capitalize on the double major penalty along with a later 5-3 advantage after a tripping call. El Grande would soon come up with the game winner after deflecting a puck with his skate to his stick near the near corner. He then fired a wrist shot down the red line, behind the Watchmen netminder and into the net. The remaining minutes had the Red Liners run the clock out. This was again helped out by more a final Watchmen penalty with 2 minutes left in the game. Sobo would get the insurance goal by finding the empty net with a clearing pass after the Watchmen pulled their goalie to get to 5-5 in the penalty kill. The Liners were able to then run out the remaining seconds.
A solid effort all around. The long break in playing did seem to hurt the players endurance at times. A few lines did get juggled up. But overall a good team effort. The McFet 95th Red Liners await their next matchup, the winner of the Northside Riffs vs. Polar Vortex.