Lakers swamp the Spiders 6-3

April 7, 2017

After a 4-1 loss to the Yellow jackets in the playoff opener the Spiders faced a must-win against the Lakers. The Lakers entered as the #1 seed based on their regular season B3 West title and overall B3 best record. While the B3 version of the Lakers were a new team for 2016-17 many of the faces are familiar from past games against the now-B2 Lakers. In addition, Lakers goaltender Mike Speakman took the net for the Spiders six times in 2015-16.

Ryan Wilson got the Spiders on the board first, putting home a rebound over a sprawling Speakman. The high-powered Lakers came roaring back in the second period with three consecutive goals. Jay Hilden scored with the man advantage to get the Spiders back to 3-2. The Lakers controlled play through the end of the second and into the third. Back-to-back Laker goals at 14:02 and 13:44 of the period put the Spiders in dire straits before the Lakers added a sixth goal midway through the period. Ryan Wilson added his second of the game to get the Spiders to 6-3 but they couldn’t get any closer.

The loss eliminates the Spiders from title contention. In other pool play action the Yellow Jackets beat the Fighting Piranhas. As a result the Spiders playoff finale against the Piranhas has no meaning in the championship picture but will be critical as both teams attempt to avoid getting skunked in the playoffs.