Shorthanded Spiders hold on vs. Lakers

Feb. 21, 2010

Spiders at Lakers

Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010,
7:45 p.m. – Coliseum

Game 13

Spiders final score:: 4
Lakers final score:: 3

Final – 2/21/2010
Team	1	2	3	F
Spiders	1	1	2	4
Lakers	1	1	1	3

By guest reporter Jay Hilden

The early Sunday night game of the Spiders vs. the Lakers brought out a large contingent of Spiders fans. This columnist estimates that there must have been at least 20 fans at the arena, filling the huge Coliseum to 0.4% of capacity! The Spiders put on a great show for the fans despite starting the game with only two full lines plus one player.

In the first period, the Spiders really had their legs under them and had many more chances to score then their opponents but were unable to find the back of the net for the majority of the period. With just over 3:30 left to go in the 1st period, the Lakers drew a tripping penalty, but the Spiders never let the Lakers touch the puck, and with the referee’s hand still in the air Tuttle scored from Bedessem, giving the Spiders a 1–0 lead. Unfortunately, before the first period expired, the Lakers would even the score.

Having at least nine full lines on the bench, the Lakers came out flying in the second period. At 13:20, the Lakers took a 2–1 lead. This goal put a fire under the Spiders offense and Bedessem scored from Droullard 70 seconds later.

In the 3rd, Johnson put in a nice goal from the slot on a great pass from Baker to give the Spiders a 3–1 advantage. Three minutes later, Baker got his 2nd point in a row on a goal from Bedessem to give the Spiders a commanding 4–2 lead with only 9 minutes to play.

The 4–2 lead was looking solid, especially as the Spiders went on the power play with 6:50 left to play. Shorthanded, the Lakers used the depth of their bench to outplay the Spiders and get a shorthanded goal at 5:44 to make it a one-goal game. The final 3 minutes of the game were very tense, mostly being played in the Spiders’ end, but Amber came up big every time and shut down the Lakers for the rest of the game giving the Spiders a 4–3 victory.

This latest win, however, wasn’t enough to bump up in the standings, as the sixth-place Lakers maintain a one-point advantage over the Spiders, who improve to 6–7 and 12 points, for seventh place.

Next up for the Spiders, the 13–1 Fighting Piranhas, who just rewrote the ending on the Chaos’ storybook season, blanking the previously undefeated Chaos 4–0 on the same Coliseum ice following the Spiders/Lakers matchup. The Spiders’ previous game with the always-strong Piranhas squad was a close one but ended in a 2–0 shutout thanks to some creative officiating.

For details, see the box score and game summary.