You’ve got to hand it to the Chaos...

April 6, 2010

... Which is exactly what the Spiders did tonight at Eden Prairie. Again.

The Spiders second-consecutive post-season debut didn’t turn out like last year’s. It did, however, turn out like the previous game against the Chaos, at Eden Prairie in January. That game, the Spiders played solidly against the Chaos until deep into the second period, then got into penalty trouble, and thanks to some “interesting” penalties, and went down in defeat.

Tonight, the Spiders again played solid through almost two periods, staying with the fast-skating Chaos, with goalkeeper Amber Obermoller keeping the score at a stalemate.

But, like last game, a little penalty trouble started the Spiders on their skid. With just under two minutes remaining in the period, PK defenseman Jeremy Litton could no longer stand the suspense of the tie game, and while retrieving a puck sent in the Spider zone, put it in his own net in the finest Jim Marshall move D1 hockey has ever seen. Chaos 1–0.

Opening the third, it was Litton in the box again, for getting his stick stepped on in the corner. He earned only 8 seconds of rest, as the Chaos power play converted to go up 2–0.

And on Litton’s very next shift, he again got beat in the corner, though he was called for actual tripping this time. Also this time, he had a roommate in the narrow penalty bench, as Chris Pettengill got called for checking on the same play. The Spider 5-on-3 PK held out as long as it could, but with 12 seconds still to go, got beat. The Spiders did kill off those remaining 12 seconds at 5-on-4, but the damage was done, Spiders in a 3–0 hole.

Spider management was seen making a hasty exit from the arena, presumably to see if there are any restrictions in sending Litton down to Beginner School before the next game.

Spider fortunes did evetually turn around, as finally, at 5:49, Eric Schlais got the Spiders on the board, with helper to Mike Johnson. Chaos still ahead 3–1.

Two drawn penalties in the third, one by Johnson in the corner, and another by Schlais, who “drew” it in style, exposed the tired legs of the Spiders, who got minimal chances during the man-advantages, and what few shots they did get were ably turned away by Chaos netminder Melbie.

At 1:16, the Spiders called a timeout and pulled Obermoller for the extra attacker. Despite a couple of chances, most of the remaining seconds were spent chasing long Chaos clears. Sub netminder Cody Yard did stop a breakaway shot, which would’ve sealed it for the Chaos.

But it was already sealed, with the Spiders going down in familiar fashion to the Chaos, 3–1.

Shots reflect the amount of offense each team was generating, with the Spiders getting 18 (3, 6, 9) on Melbie, and the Chaos landing 32 (10, 11, 11) on Obermoller, who kept the Spiders in the game despite the lack of help in front. The Chaos will be seeing their third-period 2-on-0 chance in their nightmares.

Next up, the Spiders move on to round two of the D1 Pool B round-robin series, facing the #2 seed Royals (regular season: 15–2–1–2; 33 pts.) on Thursday at Augsburg. The Royals shut out the #3 seed Ice Gators 1–0 in their first-round game tonight at Augsburg.

It’s an early start, 6 p.m. at Augsburg. Tickets still remain, to see if the Spiders can redeem their post-season.