The agony of defeat... Spiders crushed by Beavers 6-1

April 3, 2013

A short bench, a feeble power play, and a hot goaltender combined to send the Spiders to a crushing 6-1 loss to the Beavers in the AHA playoff opener on Tuesday. Despite outshooting the Beavers 35-31 and seven power plays, the Spiders only managed to put one puck in the net.

Matt Adelmann got the scoring started late in the first period. The Beavers struck back minutes later as goalie Brian Dow made the initial save on a shot through traffic but a Beaver player jumped on the rebound before the Spiders could clear it.

The Spiders scored the apparent go ahead goal early in the second as Jay Hilden slickly deflected a shot from the point. The goal was waved off as the net had become dislodged by the goalie during a scramble to the side of the net moments before. It was one of several times the Beaver goalie, obviously trained in the dark arts of goaltending, knocked the net off under pressure.

It’s hard to know what would have happened had the goal stood but the Spiders were controlling play and getting the better opportunities. Instead, the Beavers scored only seconds later to go up 2-1 and followed it up with two more goals late to take a 4-1 lead into the third period.

From there the Beavers kept pouring it on and added two more scores to make the final 6-1.

The key to the game for Beavers was their deep bench and their commitment to aggressive forechecking. The Beavers are one of the few teams to do individual pay for their league fee. The result is a minimum of 16 full time skaters. All 16 showed up on Tuesday, allowing them to always have fresh legs to pressure the Spiders defenseman. This was especially valuable during the numerous Spiders power plays. Though the Beavers couldn’t stay out of the penalty box, handing the Spiders seven power plays, their forechecking prevented the Spiders from cleanly breaking out of their own end after the Beavers iced the puck. The Spiders still had more sustained possession but the Beavers goalie was on his game, not leaving any rebounds in dangerous locations. The Beavers fresh legs also allowed them to get to more loose pucks and make little plays that resulted in their six goals.

The loss puts the Spiders’ hopes of a C1 championship in dire straits. The Spiders need to win their next two games and hope the Beavers lose their next two games. The Spiders next play the Nemesis at BIG on Friday night. Spider nation is encouraged to come out to support the team. As an added bonus, Summit beer is again sponsoring the AHA playoffs so the suds will be flowing.