Spiders in spirit of the season, give away a 3-goal lead to Fighting Piranhas

Dec. 7, 2013

With a 13-day break for Thanksgiving, the Spiders got in a festive mood at SLP E to knock the rust off their skates. However, it must’ve been the -3-degree game-time temperature outside that turned the Spiders’ offense and defense into a deep freeze as the game wore on.

Missing his second consecutive game after suffering a “lower-body” injury on Nov. 16, Bill McCormick’s net was helmed again by Ken Youngdahl, who had taken over in the second period in that Gold Rush game.

The Spiders kept it quiet for Youngdahl through the first and early into the second, putting up three consecutive goals to stun the Fighting Piranhas.

The lone first-period goal was Grotbeck, from Henke and Berman. To open the second, in quick succession, Pappone from Johnson. Then Grotbeck again, from Henke and Litton on a play that began all the way from behind the Spider net.

And by the 15-minute mark of the second, it seemed the game was well in hand. Only there was still 32 minutes of adult hockey to be had. The Piranhas answered back two minutes later, to bring the score to within the dreaded two-goal lead. And that’s when the Spiders’ woes began, as a couple of sure things ended up under the Piranhas’ netminder Alvarez instead of in the back of the net. With five minutes to go in the middle period, the Piranhas turned on the momentum, notching another at 4:48, and with the luck of the puck bounce, followed less than a minute later to tie the game at 3 to close out the second.

The suspense wouldn’t last for long into the third, as more bad luck in the defensive zone had the puck finding the top shelf behind Youngdahl. Piranhas up 4-3.

Despite a few more chances, the Piranhas played lockdown with their short bench. When the Spiders finally got the puck to the far blue line with a minute to go, Youngdahl was replaced by the extra attacker. But a “blocked” shot was all the Spiders were able to muster, and most of the minute was spent retrieving the puck from the Spiders’ defensive zone.

That’s where it would end, 4-3 loss.

Shots for the Spiders were 25 (8, 8, 9), and the Piranhas had 19 (7, 6, 6).

And impressively, the dynamic duo ref crew kept their whistles in their pockets, as no penalties were called. That’s the first no-infraction game since Jan. 28, 2013, vs. the Ak Bars.

The Spiders fall to 2-3 (4 points) in 7th place, while the Piranhas improve to 4-0-1, with their lock on first place maintained.

Next up, a mid-week game versus the fifth-place Fighting Loons (3-2). The Spiders have never played the Loons, as this is their first season at C3 after having taken home the D1 trophy last April.

For those in a scouting mood, the Fighting Loons’ last game, vs. the Fighting Saints, is available in all its streamed glory on the new ahahockeynetwork.com.

Puck drops at 9:45 (CT) on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at the Vet (VMCC) in Inver Grove Heights.