Alex Brandon/Associated Press

New Mexico Scorpions veteran center Ross McCain is part of the team's defensive line responsible for shutting down the opponents' top scoring line. The Scorpions have won three straight over first-place teams entering tonight's game at Corpus Christi.

Alex Mansfield/Special to the Tribune

Right wing Shawn Skiehar (clockwise from right), center Ross McCain, left wing Kevin Harvey and defenseman Jay Holladay celebrate a goal against Amarillo. "I kind of cherish the role," McCain says. "I really enjoy going out there knowing that I'm going to play against the top guys on the other team."

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A checking line is to a hockey team what an offensive line is to a football team - essential for success yet barely appreciated by the average fan.

Do its job well and no one should notice.

On every hockey team, at least one line emerges that the squad looks to for offense. More often than not, this "top" line houses the team's most offensively talented players.

The responsibility of the checking line is to contain this top line and neutralize the opposition's strongest offensive threat. It's not a job that looks great on the score sheet, nor is it a job that gets much recognition outside the locker room. Yet, as New Mexico Scorpions head coach Randy Murphy will attest, it is a job critical to a team's success.

"Every team's got those three guys they go to every night," Murphy said. "To give yourself a chance to win, not only do you have to shut them down from your goaltender out, but you have to have a line that eliminates their opportunities."

To do that, Murphy has assembled what he has dubbed a "shutdown line." Though the faces on the line have changed during the course of the season, the mission has remained the same - stop the opposing offense.

"I kind of cherish the role," said veteran center Ross McCain, who, along with energetic rookie Ray Ortiz, provides the framework for the Scorpions defensive front line. "I really enjoy going out there knowing that I'm going to play against the top guys on the other team."

Because of injuries and personnel changes, McCain and Ortiz have been flanked by a slew of different players this season. Early in the season, forwards Kevin Harvey and Shawn Skiehar spent a good deal of time on the checking line before a suspension sidelined Harvey and Skiehar was moved back to defense to fill some holes. In the time since, Ortiz has become a staple alongside McCain, while defenseman-turned-forward Andrew Smale and newly acquired winger Tim Vitek have also shared time on the line.

The shutdown line will put its recent success to the test tonight on the road against the Corpus Christi Rayz. Game time is 6:05 p.m. on KTBL-AM (1050).

"Offensively, having all these guys coming in and out makes it a little tough to establish chemistry," McCain said. "But on the defensive end, you can usually get away with just working hard and being smart."

Fortunately for McCain, the defensive side of the puck is the shutdown line's priority. Murphy's system stresses taking away "time and space" and forcing a team to play in its defensive zone.

"What I try to emphasize with their top line is to make them play from the redline to their own goal," Murphy said. "Those probably aren't the three most defensively reliable guys on their team. Nine times out of 10, those are guys who don't want to be playing in their own end."

And the Scorpions have taken advantage.

So far this season, McCain and Ortiz have each posted 13 points in 30 games and have an even plus-minus rating. The numbers are not terribly impressive at face value, but one thing the stat sheet fails to show is timeliness.

The Scorpions have earned at least a point in every game in which McCain or Ortiz has scored. Also, in the 16 games in which at least one of the two has registered a point, the Scorpions have lost in regulation three times.

Ortiz says his job is not about the numbers he puts up on the score sheet, but the numbers he keeps off it. Still, he admits, it's always a good feeling to get a goal on occasion.

"Anyway you can contribute to your team getting a win is why we all play," Ortiz said.

For Murphy and the Scorpions, the shutdown line is slated to play a pivotal role in the second half of the season as the team jockeys for a playoff berth in the CHL's Southwest Division. The Scorpions sit in third place in the division and fourth place in the Southern Conference. January appears pivotal to their playoff aspirations.

Ten of the team's 11 games in January are against conference opponents, and seven of those 10 are against divisional foes.

And, oh, what a division it is.

The Southwest Division is home to six of the league's Top 10 scorers, among them Scorpions forward Konrad Reeder.

The Arizona Sundogs, who sit in a first-place tie with the Odessa Jackalopes, boast American Hockey League-proven forwards Alex Leavitt and Tyler Redenbach, both of whom are averaging better than two points per game. Odessa is on par with the Sundogs offensively, anchored by the top line of Dominic Leveille, Sebastian Thinel and Nathan Ward, who have combined for 127 points in 32 games.

Ortiz says if the shutdown line can do its job against the top offensive units in the division, the Scorpions' depth can prevail.

"If we can shut down those top lines, I like our matchups with our other two lines," Ortiz said.

The Scorpions have registered three consecutive wins over first-place teams. But given the offensive potency within the division, they likely will need the shutdown line to play a huge role if they want to win a second straight division championship.

"Against these guys in our division, we really have to make every shift count," McCain said. "These divisional games now are basically worth four points."