Spiders open playoffs with 5-2 win over Saints

April 3, 2018

Despite a Spiders record* 14:21 of penalty kill time on 10 penalties the Spiders convincingly beat the Saints 5-2 in the playoff opener.

Aaron Bedessem got the scoring started with a one timer that beat the Saint goalie in the first minutes. The Saints equalized but Matt Adelman regained the lead for the Spiders with a shorthanded goal.

Paul Fitch extended the lead to 3-1 before the Saints responded to make it 3-2. The remainder of the second period was scoreless although the Spiders parade to the penalty box picked up steam.

Adelman netted his second of the game early in the third to give the Spiders a 4-2 advantage. The Spider penalty kill got plenty of work with five penalties including 1:33 of 5-on-3 kill. Despite the extended penalty kill time the Spiders kept the Saints to the perimeter. The Saints had few good opportunities with Brian Dow controlling rebounds. Dow’s most impressive and critical save came during a 5-on-3 kill with the Spiders up 4-2. Dow made the initial save but the clearing attempt was whiffed by a defenseman with Dow making a huge reaction glove save on the follow up shot by the Saints skater. Brent Murray took advantage of a rare Spiders power play late to make the final 5-2.

Dow finished with 25 saves. Mike Speakman will be filling in for Dow for the rest of the playoffs as Dow will be out of town at a conference. Spider fans will be familiar with Speakman from his sub appearances during the season-that-must-not-be-named (2015-16).

Most prognosticators predicted the B3 East division was stronger than the West but the results of the first round of the playoffs were a bloodbath. The B3 East went 4-0 over the B3 West (more like the worst, am I right?) with the Spiders 5-2 win being the closest of the first round games.

Next up for the Spiders is the West regular season champion Spitfires White at 7:15pm at BIG 2 on Thursday. The Spitfires are fresh off an 8-2 loss to the Wild in which they only had 9 skaters.

*I’m too lazy to actually check this. But I’m sure it’s true.