At the halfway point of the season, Spiders claw back to .500 by beating Wolfpack 5–1

Jan. 4, 2015

The Spiders finished the first half of the season with an even-up record, at 5–5, with a fresh start for 2015.

On Sunday, the Spiders tried to forget last week’s shutout, and took on the unknown Wolfpack, a team that made the leap from D2 last season. They were 2–5–2, in last place, going into the game.

The game opened in the Wolfpack’s favor, with a freebie in the low slot ending up behind McCormick.

Two minutes later, the Spiders were thankful the video replay system at New Hope N was not working that evening, as a high shot by Brad Sutton was “handled” by Scott Bredael, and into the net, assist also to Berman. And tie game.

Just 29 seconds later, Jason Freed put the Spiders up by one from not-quite-Schuster’s Office, and assist to Schuster.

From there, the Spiders’ forecheck took over, as much of the remainder of the first, and the second, was spent in the Wolfpack zone, forcing the pressed Pack to ice the puck multiple times per shift, much to the chagrin of at least one of the officiating crew. However, the Wolfpack did end up outshooting the Spiders in the second 15–10, with McCormick making incredible saves, including plenty through screens in his crease.

With three minutes to go in the second, a Schroeder point blast found its way through the mess in front and through the goalie, assist again to Schuster, who got on the ice just in time to negate what would’ve been a shorthanded goal by Schroeder. Spiders now with the dreaded two-goal advantage.

In the third, the Wolfpack legs began to sag, and the Spiders controlled the offensive zone, exemplified by a perfect blue line draw play by Dave Lavigne, picked up by Fritz, slid down to Bredael, and passed to a waiting Berman in the slot, who picked his corner for his team-leading sixth of the season, and putting the Spiders up by three, half a period to go.

A roughing penalty drawn behind the net by Jason Mehling gave the Spiders their first chance to cough up the puck on the power play. And cough it up they did, spending most of the two minutes playing pickle in the middle.

The Spiders waited patiently until they were back to full strength to put away the nightcap, Jason Freed with his second of the game from down low, assist to Sutton, for his second helper of the game.

Having seen the woeful power play of the Spiders, the Wolfpack elected to go shorthanded again, raising alarms on the Spider bench: “No, we decline!”

But instead of using the two minutes to catch up, the Wolfpack instead decided to try to play catchup in the C3 East PIM column, coming just short of taking second place. After a two-handed lumberjack to an opponent’s back, in an adult hockey recreational game, failed to draw the attention of a ref, who was too busy waiting to chastise another player for icing the puck, the Wolfpack did their best to get noticed. With Schroeder and two Wolfs in the box, #9 B. Wolf appeared to think it was pinball, not hockey, in the Spider zone, trying to bounce off any body he could. But even a body check during the final ticks of the clock against Bredael into the boards failed to wake the refs up. The Wolfpack would be disappointed on both ends of the scoresheet.

At least the Wolfpack alt captain had the decency to come to the Spiders bench after the game and apologize for his players’ conduct, going so far as to suggest their guy should’ve gotten an early shower.

Final score: 5–1

In the end, the game goes down for the Spiders, 5–1, and improves the record to an even 5–5 to finish out the first half of the season, and the first trip through the C3 East opponents.

Standings

In the C3 standings, the Spiders hop back into the playoff picture, tied for third with the Blade Runners and Royals, though both have a game in hand, as do the two teams below the Spiders. Which means the third-place slot is extremely temporary.

Next up

The upcoming 11-day layoff should do wonders for the rust on the Spiders’ skate blades. The Mill City Marauders, whom the Spiders shut out to to open the season 8–0, sit just a point behind the Spiders, at 4–5–1.

Puck drops at new AHA arena Vadnais Sports Center, in Vadnais Heights, Canada, on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 9:20 p.m.

Halfway, by the numbers

At the halfway point, by the numbers, the Spiders are outscoring their opponents 38 to 32, though take away the opening game shutout of the Marauders, and that changes to a 30:32 deficit.

For shots on goal, the Spiders also have the lead over opponents, at 300 to 276.

Special teams, however, are worse than the NHL franchise in town, with just 1 out of 12 opportunities converted (8.3%), and opponents clicking at 5 of 19 (for a 73.7% PK).

The Spiders usual division lead in PIM, however, is nowhere to be found, with just a middle of the pack 48 PIM (Nighthawks at 72 in the lead, and Mastodons at 34 holding up the rear).

By comparison, at the halfway mark the last few seasons, the Spiders are in typical Spider shape ... on the outside looking up:

On track to finish with 20 points, and no analstats being tracked for C3 by Brandon Hofer, the Spiders can only surmise that a .500 record from here on out will result in the first early golf season for the Spiders since the 2007–08 season.