Spiders win B3 opener 4-2 over Royals

Nov. 6, 2013

Through five minutes of their inaugural B3 game, it appeared the Spiders were in for a long season. The Royals were controlling play and pinning the Spiders into their own end. Uncovered Royals swarmed the front of the net, forcing netminder Brian Dow into several tough saves.

But after the rope-a-dope opening to the period, the Spiders got their legs underneath them. The shot count in the first period favored the Royals but the latter part of the period was evenly played. The Spiders continued the pressure in the second period with the Royals goalie making several spectacular saves to keep the game scoreless.

Early in the third the Spiders finally broke through as Jay Hilden deflected a shot from Tim Stalpes past the Royals goalie. Hilden added another goal minutes later and Mike Townsend and Aaron Bedessem extended the lead to 4-0.

The game got a little ugly late as Royals hot head V. Trendov decided Brian Dow needed a blind side cross check to the back in retaliation for a missed tripping call. Trendov got a cross checking call as well as a game ejection, bringing his penalty minute total to an impressive and despicable 18 for game. The Royals added two late goals to make the score a more respectable looking 4-2.

Though the official shot count shows the Royals with a 33-26 advantage the Spiders got the better of play for the final two periods. The ability to withstand early pressure and modify strategy on the fly will certainly serve the Spiders well in the B3 level.

The Spiders next take the ice on Sunday, November 10th at 7:30pm at Eden Prairie rink 1against the Fighting Piranhas Blue. There are two Fighting Piranhas teams in the B3 division this season. The Piranhas had teams in both C1 and B3 last season with the C1 team recently being promoted. The Blue team is the team that played in B3 last season.