With playoff seeding on the line, the Heartland Red Liners come out on the half-melted ice with a determined attitude. A win would give them 4th place. A loss would win them 5th place. As the Heartland brackets had 4th playing 5th, the outcome of this game was obviously important. After an initial hiccup, the Red Liners would rattle off eight unanswered goals and sweeping themselves into a late night Sunday playoff game.
The first period began auspiciously as MK got beat by a speeding Yeti would backhanded the puck through Dr. ABBA’s five hole for their first and only goal of the game. MK blamed having to wear a cage instead of his beloved visor after a puck to the face. But the guys in red rallied around their forwards and began to notch goals. Ca$hin on a scramble at the net would get the Liners first and only goal of the period. Dr. Nick with Bleech and Javi-Bulin forward an impressive defensive wall that easily deflected the Yetis’ top scorers.
The second period scoring began with DJ PJ off his patented backhand wrister. Braxton used her patented scoring play two, a rainbow shot over the leg pads. Turch-tastic masterfully vacuumed pucks in the neutral zone and kept the offensive pressure on the Yetis especially during a penalty kill.
The third period was more of the same. Dr. Nick was settling in his net. Shake n’ Jake and ThomThom just missed on their scoring chances of rebounds by the net. Ca$hin’s second goal by the crease was the start of a 4 quick goals that would break the back of the Yetis. Sniper Snep’s shot on net would deflect off Ca$hin. Morty followed up with a lazy wrister at the Yeti net that fooled their netminder. The puck hooked and went behind the goalie. All of Tobes hardwork paid off as he popped in a loose rebound just inside the far post. The final goal by unguarded Ca$hin who easily lasered a shot into an empty net just made it before the final buzzer sounded.
This last regular season game was a decisive win against an average strength team. With that win, the Red Liners earned an 8-6-2-1 record which is their first winning record ever. With 19 points, they await a meetup with Polar Vortex or the Whalers on Sunday, Aug 16th at 10pm for round 1. The Liners who to get through all three rounds and be crowned the champions.