Spiders fall to Ice Hogs 5-3

Jan. 28, 2015

The Spiders lost for the second game in a row Monday, going down to the Ice Hogs by a score of 5-3.

The Ice Hogs got on the board first midway through the first period. Mario Mariani tied it up at 1-1 at 8:22 of the period as he put home a rebound off a Geoff Kuppe shot.

The Ice Hogs owned the second period, scoring twice and outshooting the Spiders by a 16-12 margin. Puck control and pressure were fairly even but the Ice Hogs took advantage of their opportunities. Brian Dow made some key saves to keep the Spiders within striking distance.

Momentum was on the Spiders side to start the third period. Geoff Kuppe scored a power play goal early in the period to get the Spiders within a goal but the Ice Hogs answered right back to extend the lead to 4-2. The Spiders continued to get shots away but the Ice Hogs collapsed toward the goalie, blocking numerous shots.

The Spiders called time out late to discuss strategy for pulling the goalie and extra attackers. With Brian Dow on the bench, Aaron Bedessem scored with only 1:23 left to give the Spiders some hope. The Spiders again got Dow off for an extra attacker late but a turnover at center ice led to an Ice Hog empty netter to ice the game.

There are no moral victories when you’re falling out of the playoff race but the Spiders can take some positives out of their 5-3 loss to the Ice Hogs Monday night. The Ice Hogs are definitely the top team in the B3 East and are the overwhelming Vegas favorites for the B3 title. It’s probably the best team performance since a 3-2 win over the 3rd place Taz Devils on December 27th.

The loss drops the Spiders to 5-6-0 on the season. With the Wild beating the Loons on Tuesday, the Spiders drop to 6th place in the B3 East. Next up for the Spiders is a showdown with the 3rd place Taz Devils on Saturday, February 7th at 7:40pm at Highland South.

One positive note – the Spiders have finished with the portion of the schedule with bad game times and days. The Spiders only have one more game time later than 8pm the rest of the season.