Spiders barely hold on against Fighting Saints

Jan. 2, 2011

The Spiders first game of 2011, at the cavernous State Fair Coliseum, had the Spiders celebrating early like it was the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

By the time the first two periods were in the books, the Spiders had built a four-goal lead. The scoring started midway through the first, with a highlight-reel slot goal from C Mike Johnson, who found Litton point shot for the taking at the top of the crease, assist also to LW Pettengill, fresh back from a “lower-body” injury. Pettengill’s would be next, assists from Johnson and Schlais, also in his first game back from an “upper-body” injury that had kept him out since the previous Fighting Saints game (despite being credited with an assist against the Chaos last week!). Just under 3 minutes into the second, Johnson found the back of the net again, unassisted, giving the Spiders the coveted three-goal advantage. And Yard would purchase a State-Fair Special insurance policy at 4:26 remaining, finding a loose puck just off the crease, courtesy of a Vandenberghe shot off the goalie’s pads following a Flannery through-the-legs point shot.

With an improbable four-goal lead, the Spiders headed into the third. First on the scoresheet was a Rethwisch body check, drawn by Jake Cison in the corner. Vandenberghe got the next gate call, in front of the Saints’ net for a high stick. Sufficiently killed, the Spiders began their shutdown hockey. Only they forgot to tell the Saints, who took advantage of weary Spider D legs, netting two in just a 1:16 span. While the Spiders’ packed bench wondered why their legs had gone to sleep, the Saints added yet another under two minutes later, and cut the lead to just one with 5:15 remaining.

Newly energized, the Saints pressed and pressed, with the Spiders just hanging on as though it was the State Fair rodeo bull ride. A little too energized, perhaps, as one of the Saints whacked Fransen’s glove after the whistle for the umpteenth time, and Flannery judiciously got him off Fransen, awarded with both another Saint jumping into the fracas, and a game ejection. Johnson sat for Flannery’s double minor, which meant the Spiders would spend the remaining 3:43 shorthanded.

The aftermath of Flannery’s cross-check in the third.

At the one-minute mark, the Saints pulled their netminder Eric Anderson, though the Saints bench was told there’d be no math, and forgot to send out their sixth attacker for a good 35 seconds. The Spiders didn’t mind, and kept up their well-oiled PK throughout, stifling any chances and clearing it all the way. One final poke check at the blue line, and the game was in the books. Spiders win 4–3.

The Fighting Saints outshot the Spiders, putting 27 on Fransen, to Anderson’s 25. And Fransen put on a clinic, picking out mid-air shot after shot throughout the game.

With the win, the Spiders carry their unblemished record into the new year. The Saints are clogged in the tight D1 West middle-of-the-pack, where just two points separate six teams.

Next up, it’s the Ice Gators at Eden Prairie next Sunday at 9:15. This season’s previous matchup ended in a 5–2 Spider win.