Spiders pan-fry Fighting Ice Fish 5–2

March 14, 2012

The Spiders knew they needed this game to extend the season into April, and came to play against the last-place Ice Fish.

But the Ice Fish had some late-season energy in them, and set the tone for the first period. After an even, scoreless first 10 minutes, it was the Ice Fish who got on the scoreboard first, scored by T. Patronksi in the slot, assist by Litton (-1).

It took less than a minute for the Spiders to tie it back up, with Jon Pappone netting his 7th of the season, assists to Schwinn and Byland.

A puck battle behind the Spider net in the closing seconds of the first landed Grotbeck in the box, as the refs called a very strict game.

While Grotbeck rested to open the second, Schuster got on his horse and took a breakaway all the way for his second shorthanded goal of the season, putting the Spiders up by two, and getting himself in the Spiders record book for tying the team record for most shorthanded goals in a season.

At 7:05, Schuster did it again, with his team-leading 15th of the year, assist by Freed, with his team-leading 13th apple of the year.

Just over a minute later, on the Power Play, the man-advantage passing the Spiders perfected last week was back in place, with Schwinn getting his sixth of the year, assists to Pappone in the slot, and Fritz in the corner (and Schroeder off the scoresheet). Spiders up 4–1.

The Ice Fish got one back on a 3-on-2 with 3:07 left in the second.

In the third, the refs tested their whistles early and often, calling seven penalties (though only six made it onto the scoresheet), and giving the boisterous Breck crowed a chance to see a rare 4-on-3. The refs didn’t call one, however, when Schuster went down and out with an “upper-body” injury after a helmet-on-helmet collision, though he returned late in the third after repairs.

All that penalty time meant little time for offense. Finally, with 4:15 left, Schwinn put away his second of the night, assists to Pappone and Johnson, the only marker of the third period.

The remainder of the period was shut down by McCormick, who stopped all 10 Fish shots in the third, and got the Spiders their 10th win of the season.

Final: 5–2.

Overall, “official” shots were even. The Ice Fish made 24 on McCormick (9, 5, 10), and the Spiders put 26 (13, 8, 5) on Peterson. However, the unofficial “shots attempted” stat was much higher, according to the scorekeeper: “Just because you kinda, sorta shot the puck toward the net, doesn’t mean it counts as a shot.”

Standings Watch

With this win, the 10th of the season, the Spiders improve to 10–7–1–1, and 22 points, with one game remaining. That’s good for 5th place in the C3 standings, as two ties in other C3 games allow the Spiders to claim a spot ahead of the Fighting Piranhas, last week’s 5th-place team.

The Fighting Ice Fish will finish the season in 14th — last in C3 — now with a 3–15–1–0 record and 7 points, a game and a half behind the Lakers.

The Spiders win the season series 2–0, having one the first game 6–2 in December. Lifetime, the Spiders have gone 4–0–1 against the Fighting Ice Fish, including a last-game-of-the-season upset of the Ice Fish on April 1, 2010, to steal the last playoff spot that season.

Did the Ice Fish just extended the same courtesy again to the Spiders? Relevant C3 games on Thursday will determine whether the Spiders will be playing tennis or hockey in mid-April, including the Royals/Fighting Saints. With the Moose losing to the Wingmen on Tuesday (thanks to a disallowed late “goal” by Brian Vesall), and the Fighting Piranhas tying the Sled Dogs, the Spiders could very well be in a position to claim their fourth consecutive AHA playoff invitation.

Next up, the final game of the regular season, against the resurgent Ak Bars. After opening the season 0–7–1–1, they turned it around in January with three consecutive wins. Going into the last week, they have climbed ahead of the Lakers by a game, and sit in 12th place.

Game starts at 9:45 at Richfield 2, Monday, March 19.

Game media

The Ice Fish crowd demanding some backchecking in the second period.

A few seconds later, he got there eventually.