Short-benched Spiders fend off Diablos to win, retain hold on first place

Jan. 11, 2009

It was the case of the incredible shrinking bench at SLP, where what was left of the Spiders skated (and wheezed) to a victory over the second-place Diablos, with a final score of 5–2.

The Diablos, just two points behind the Spiders in D1 East, were sure to put on a good show, considering the 4–4 tie from the previous matchup, and their 7–1–2 record going into this evening, the beginning of the second half of the season.

And the Spiders, at 8–0–2, had a back-office scramble to find enough bodies to suit up, as the Minnesota Wild’s road flu bug had made its way to the Spiders dressing room. The Spiders’ team physician, Rob Droullard, pronounced only 11 skaters fit to play ... from his perch in a western ski resort. However, a game-time surprise saw newly stitched Aaron Bedessem make his way onto the ice, drawing some kind of noise from the small-but-boisterous Spider crowd. So with 12 lacing up, against the Diablos’ 16, the night would not be easy.

Sure enough, the Diablos broke onto the scoreboard, just 3:06 into the first period, with C. Steinbach scoring on assist from the zebra.

Just over two minutes later, though, defenseman Jay Hilden would snap one from the top of the slot and find a clear path to the right side of the net, tying the game at 1 apiece. Add a penalty for each team, including former Spider Dave Schaefer drawing one on defenseman Jeremy Litton’s attempt to win a Golden Globe, would close out the first frame.

To start the second period, the Spiders would get the benefit of a couple tripping calls against the Diablos, and at 15:23, right winger Mike Johnson would bang one home, assisted by Chris Flannery, to give the Spiders a one-goal lead.

Following a successful PK on a makeup call against Chris Flannery for interference, the energized Spiders would keep building on their lead, with the eventual game-winner on a highlight-reel goal by Jay Hilden, who banged it off both pipes from the left half boards, assisted by Chris Flannery and Jeremy Litton.

With just 11 seconds remaining in the second period, a well-wrapped center Aaron Bedessem won the faceoff just outside the Diablos zone, grinded his way through to the left goalline and — impossibly — shot behind the Diablos minder and found the far pipe and had it bounce in as good, with just 2 seconds before the buzzer, putting the Spiders up by a three-goal margin.

Another insurance marker 3:41 into the third by defenseman Brian Armagost (-1 on the night), with assist by D1 sub Lee Martini, put the Spiders up now by four. But a front-of-the-goal scrum left Aaron Bedessem a little worse for wear with an “upper body” injury, and scrambling for the professional care of the team physician (still skiing...). To follow that, Michael Armel suffered an “upper body” injury, and also left the game. The Spiders, now down to 10 skaters with over half a period remaining, would be tested by the still-fresh-as-sunshine Diablos.

And at 11:22, the Diablos’ C. Steinbach notched another, though no assist this time to the zebra, who was still busy pulling snow out of his sleeves from an earlier vicious trip by the redline.

The remainder of the game pretty much all in the Spiders’ zone, with shot after shot flung at the Spiders’ gumper Amber Obermoller, who was more than up to the task, fending off a whopping 14 shots (and plenty of sticks) in the third, drawing praise from the ref, and ensuring the Spiders ended up with the victory.

Final score: 5–2.

The Spiders continue their sole hold on first in D1 East, improve to 9–0–2, with the Diablos now two games behind but still in second.

Next up, a Saturday night rematch in St. Paul against the 5–4–1 Wingmen, again at the Biff. In the previous meeting, the Spiders won 7–3, though were outshot 29–25.