B1 Spiders outlast Outlaws in 8-6 win

Feb. 19, 2019

Veteran winger Jason Yancey sniped his way to a hat trick Sunday night as the B1 Spiders outlasted the Outlaws in an 8-6 win in Inver Grove Heights.

The victory against a perrennial playoff team helped keep the Spiders (7-8-1) postseason hopes alive with four games remaining on the schedule. That playoff push has been boosted by 4-1-1 record over their last six games.

Five different Spiders lit the lamp at Veterans Memorial Community Center as the Spiders built an 8-3 lead after scoring seven second period goals. But some of those goals didn’t come in typical fashion, as the Outlaws (8-8) had to call in their emergency backup goaltender after their starter M. Cleary went down with a groin injury early in the second period. He was replaced by D. Dahlen, who looked more comfortable as the game wore on. But during a four-minute stretch where the backup goaltender was putting on his pads, the Outlaws played with six skaters and an empty net. The Spiders took advantage of the situation in front of them and buried three empty netters, until the Outlaws backup goalie checked in with his team trailing 4-3.

Yancey, who scored the Spider’s first goal early in the first period, tacked on his second goal of the game during a penalty kill to extend the Spider’s lead to 5-3 at 6:45 in the second period. Defenseman Hank Long then blasted a goal from the point with 4:12 remaining in the second period, and Aaron Forsman followed with a goal 90 seconds later. Yancey netted his hat trick with 32 seconds remaining during the wild second stanza. Christian Peterson and Dave Krenn also scored goals during the period.

With an 8-3 lead heading into the final stanza, the Spiders then went into prevent mode where they were outshot 17-7. While the Spiders hung tough in their own end for most of the period, the Outlaws broke through with two goals in the span of 22 seconds at 5:56 and 5:33, to cut their deficit to 8-5. They then added another goal at 3:20 as they continued to swarm the net until the game clock ran out.

Spiders goaltender Greg Buell stopped 35 of 41 shots – and recorded an assist – in the win. Winger Shane Lauinger notched two assists.

The Spiders now move into the toughest two-game stretch of their schedule with games against the Ligers on Tuesday, Feb. 26 and the Grizzlies Sunday, March 3. A win over either two of those top teams would keep the Spiders in serious playoff contention as their inaugural season winds down.