Lynx Teach Fire Lesson in McCarthyism

After finally winning their first game of the year in their final regular season game, the Keane Fire were claiming to be the hottest team in the league (no pun intended). However, as is often the case in this league, the Fire ran into crucial personnel problems. This time the absentee-bug afflicted the Fire's two goalies. With captain Steve Barriault working with the Bruins organization in Boston, and backup goaltender Harvey Snelgrove away on "counseling" (most suggest this is a euphemism for an "anger management" course), the Fire were left with no goaltenders. The Fire drew straws before the game, and it was rookie Marcel Cote who drew the short straw, and started the game in goal.

But it was Cote's opposite number who turned out to be the story of the game. Lynx' rookie goaltender Tony McCarthy was unbeatable for 44 minutes, parrying each Fire shot with relative ease. Backstopped by McCarthy's stellar net-minding, the Lynx cruised to 11-0 lead with under a minute to go.

Players on both benches were wondering if McCarthy would record the second shutout in league history, and the first in playoff history. But it was not to be, as a couple late breakdowns by the Lynx defense led to 2 last minute goals by the Fire, making the final score 11-2.

The Lynx advance to face the Lite-Sabres in the semi-finals for the second straight season, while the Fire are breaking out their golf clubs early for the second season in a row.

Fire sniper, and eternal optimist David Watson, put his trademark spin on the game. "We obviously were coming on strong, scoring 2 goals in the last minute," began Watson, "at that rate we would have won the game in a mere 5 more minutes!"