Spiders light up Wild for six goals, including OT winner

Dec. 16, 2019

It had been more than a full season since the B2 Spiders squared up against one of their most competitive AHA rivals in the Wild.

And the result of their Saturday, Dec. 14 tilt at New Hope Ice Arena, was the same as it has tended to be for two fast-paced, former B3 teams – now reunited at the B2 level. A neck-and-neck horse race ended with the Spiders coming out on top 6-5 in OT.

Christian Peterson led the Spiders with the game-tying and OT winning goals as the Spiders defeated the Wild (2-3-0-1) in a game that saw the Wild take the lead on four separate occasions before the Spiders closed the gap on Peterson’s first goal with 2:08 remaining in regulation. Then, in an abbreviated OT, the Spider’s captain floated the game winner over the blocker of Wild goaltender R. Jones with just 52 seconds remaining. Paul Fitch and Hank Long assisted on the goal.

The comeback win gave the Spiders (2-3-1) their first official unbeaten streak of a still young season. After dropping their first three games, the Black-and-Red have now recorded a tie and two consecutive wins as the holiday break approaches.

Prior to Peterson's pair of late-game goals, the Spiders had found themselves in a 5-3 hole in the third period. That is, until winger Jason Yancey netted an unassisted goal with just under 10 minutes to play. Yancey’s first goal of the season came just 30 seconds after the Wild scored consecutive goal 30 seconds apart, in what proved to be an intense, if a bit sloppy third period.

The first two periods featured plenty of odd-man rushes as both teams traded goals, with the Wild leading off just two minutes into the game, when B2 East leading scorer A. Olson scored on a 2-on-1.

The Spiders fired back two minutes later when Shane Lauinger scored off a rebound from the point. Defenseman Hank Long's slap shot from the point found a clear path to the front of the net. Lauinger buried the rebound after R. Jones made the initial save.

The teams then continued to trade goals through two periods, with forward Scott Niels (14:33 in the 2nd) and Long (3:09 in the 2nd) getting in on the action.

The Spiders outshot Wild 40 to 32 in the contest.

The win gives the Spiders a 6-1-2 record against the Wild in the B3 and B2 tier matchups. But 7 of those 9 contests were decided by late-game goals or ended in ties, including a 5-4 win in the B3 playoffs that sent the Spiders to the championship.

Up next for the Spiders are the Spitfires (1-5), who feature several of the players the Black-and-Red lost to in that 2018 B3 title game.