Spiders eliminate Northern Horde in shootout, advance to D1 title game

April 9, 2011

Highlights:

First Spiders goal (for) since 2006–07:: Jeremy Litton

First-ever Spiders shootout
And first-ever Spiders shootout win!

Spiders at Northern Horde

Saturday, Apr. 9, 2011,
8:15 p.m. – BIG 3

Game 24 (AHA game 1137)

Spiders final score:: 3
Northern Horde final score:: 2

Final – 4/9/2011
Team	1	2	3	OT	F
Spiders	1	0	1	0	3
Northern Horde	1	0	1	0	2

An evenly matched game between the two top D1 teams ended in “fan favorite” shootout, as Spiders get 3–2 win.

In what was billed as a matchup between the two top D1 teams — with both teams holding the top two regular season records in the AHA — the game lived up to the billing. The game, and the teams were evenly matched. And as has been the case all weekend, the difference came down to goaltending. Fransen has kept the Spiders running on all cylinders all playoffs. And the Horde’s Nathan Kangas, the No. 2 goalie in all of AHA, has been impossible to solve the entire season.

The “well-rested” teams (both on just 7 hours of rest), took to the worst ice yet of the weekend back on the BIG 3 Olympic sheet. Given the weary legs on both sides, the pace of the first period was slow. Horde leading scorer Steven Lenzen broke the ice with just 1:18 left in the first, getting the Horde on the board, and the boisterous Spiders fans packing the stands nodding in agreement that this seems to be the Spiders’ MO all week.

But the lead wouldn’t last long. A Horde penalty gave the Spiders a late period power play. And a perfect setup by Droullard to Freed to Litton sneaking down into the slot and banging it under Kangas to even up the score at 1–1 to close out the first. The crowd couldn’t believe what they just saw — veteran D-man Jeremy Litton ending his four-year goal drought in the AHA winter league, having not scored (for) since March 3, 2007, vs. the Fighting Piranhas, a total of 79 games played. After the game, Litton’s father, who was in the BIG crowd, commented: “I told him when he started playing I’d pay him five dollars for every goal he scored. I think I came out pretty good on the deal.”

The second period added only a few meager shots on net, and a few meager penalties.

The third started out with Spider pressure, and 2:30 in, Schlais dug the puck in close, and Flannery finished, banging the puck through a crowd in front of Kangas, and its momentum eventually carried it trickling across the goal line, to give the Spiders a rare early-third-period lead.

Since this was an even-up game, the Horde evened it up from the point at the 4:48 mark, with the Horde’s Brian Hinderks getting his second goal of the season, as the Spiders weary backcheckers were even wearier due to getting stuck on a long shift thanks to Horde pressure.

Despite chances in the remaining 12 minutes of the third, including another stuff in the crease, nothing was called a goal by the officiating crew.

Having dealt with no OT during pool play, the BIG bleachers cheered on as the extra frame was put up on the scoreboard, with a five-minute runtime on the clock. But five minutes weren’t enough, as the clock ran out with a loose puck in the Spider zone.

In regulation and OT, the shot tallies ended almost even, with the Spiders generating 21 (8, 3, 7, 3), and the Horde 22 (6, 6, 6, 4).

Onto the rare-in-the-AHA — but always a “fan favorite” — shootout.

The Horde elected to defer, and the Spiders sent Cody “I’m Ready” Yard out first. A wise choice, as he beat Kangas top shelf.

The Horde’s answer was their leading scorer Lenzen, who made a move, then buried it right in Fransen’s gut.

Next, Chris Flannery got to see up close one of Kangas’ many saves of the season.

The Horde then sent Fischer, who also made a move, but sent the puck the same place his predecessor had.

Finally, with the game-winning puck on his stick, Jake Cison sat at center ice receiving instructions in the eerily quiet arena. The ref whistled him, and he coasted toward Kangas, pulled left and found a “wide open” 3-inch gap, where he slid the puck through. The refs’ slow reaction confused the Spiders, who given their exhaustion, weren’t quite sure what just happened. Did the Spiders just come back from behind yet again, and advance to the D1 Championship?

Sure enough, the Spiders bench spilled to the ice to celebrate an amazing shootout win, and congratulate the Horde on an amazing semi-final.

And those same congratulations to the Northern Horde on an amazing season, and it came down to an evenly matched game that resulted appropriately enough in the shootout.

The Spiders will now get some real rest before dragging their soaked gear and weary bodies back to BIG to take on the Lumberjacks in the D1 title game. Yes, the Lumberjacks, who earlier on the BIG 1 ice eliminated the Diablos 1–0, in a return of favor from last season, where the Diablos knocked off the Lumberjacks 3–0 in the semi-final. That means this marks the first time in four seasons the Diablos have not been in the D1 final.

As with many of the teams this week, except for the Northern Horde, the Spiders have a long history with the Lumberjacks, going back to their first D1 season in 2007–08. Lifetime, the Lumberjacks have the advantage, 2–3–1. The last time the teams met was the first round robin game in 2008–09, where the Spiders won 4–1 on March 31, 2009.

Puck drops on the rugged BIG 1 ice at 2 p.m. Bring your cowbells and cheer on the Spiders in their second appearance in the D1 Championship.

For details, see the box score and game summary.