Spiders offense excels in 8-6 win over Spitfires Green

March 19, 2018

Captain Ryan Wilson’s detailed and exhaustive scouting report proved to be 100% accurate on Tuesday. Wilson implored the Spiders to shoot and shoot often with a prediction that the Spiders needed 28 shots on goal to secure the victory. 29 shots later the Spiders skated to an 8-6 win over the B3 East champion Spitfires Green.

Christian Peterson, fresh off a hat trick two days earlier, got the scoring started by deflecting a Hank Long shot past the Spitfire goalie. The Spitfires answered right back as a centering pass caromed off a Spiders d-man and into the net. Peterson netted for the second time in the period with a rebound off another shot from the point. Another Spitfires goal was answered quickly by Matt Adelman and the Spiders took a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.

The Spiders began a parade to the penalty box in the second period and the Spitfires took advantage, scoring two quick goals to take their first lead of the night. Aaron Bedessem tied the game before Andrew Jakubowksi, prolific scorer for the Spitfires Green, Spitfires White and B2 Lakers, put the Spitfires back in front. Justin Stone scored his second goal in as many games just minutes later and then Peterson made it a hat trick with a shorty late in the period to make it 6-5 in favor of the Spiders. The Peterson goal was a thing of beauty as Matt Adelman beat a defenseman wide and centered the puck as he was being pulled down with Peterson leaving no doubt, roofing it high to the glove side. The Spitfires outshot the Spiders 33-23 through two periods but the Spiders were noticeably the more energetic of the two teams, including killing off two minutes of a 5-on-3 Spitfires advantage late in the second.

Jakubowski evened the score with a power play tally early in the third. One would think that the Spitfires would have learned their lesson and attempted to cover Christian Peterson after scoring a hat trick through two periods. But one would be wrong as Adelman found Peterson twice unmarked in space to give the Spiders an 8-6 lead. The Spiders D held strong to close out the period and claim the win.

Despite allowing six goals the Spiders played well in their own end. The Spitfires move the puck well and are adept at luring the opposition out of position. Brian Dow made some big saves and as the game progressed the defense stiffened and limited the good scoring opportunities for the Spitfires.

The win locks the Spiders into 2nd place in the B3 East behind the Spitfires Green. This will put the Spiders into pool B of the B3 playoffs with the B3 West champion Spitfires White with two spots up from grabs with the 3rd place team from the East and the 4th place team from the West. As we go to press these teams are the Wild (B3 East #3) and Lumberjacks (B3 West #4).

The Spiders wrap up the regular season on Saturday, March 24th with a 6:00pm matinee puck drop against the River Pirates. The River Pirates were eliminated from playoff contention this last weekend but have been one of the better teams in the division since the start of the year, including a 5-1 win over a weakened Spiders team in January. Richfield 2 will be the venue as the Spiders look to maintain momentum to the playoffs and the River Pirates look to wrap up the season on a high note.