Spiders score two quick goals, lose 4-zip to Ak Bars

Dec. 14, 2015

Fourth consecutive loss is first shutout loss of the season.

The Minnetonka B crowd of Claire got to see two of a goalie’s worst nightmares on display:

• Letting in a goal on a redline dump-in.
• Having a defenseman’s skate deflect what would’ve been a wide shot right in the wickets.

After one period, the Spiders had generously spotted the Ak Bars a two-goal handicap.

And in the second, the Spiders generously spotted the Ak Bars 17 straight minutes of puck possession, with a one-, and occasionally two-man advantage, once the refs realized they could only see red. It was the last 9 seconds of the 5-on-3 that the PK could hold no longer, and the Ak Bars added their own goal to their total.

Late in the second, and into the third, the refs realized there was another team on the ice, and began putting the white and green into the bin, with usual suspect #47 Pavel Zakharov getting his customary appearances on the scoresheet.

The Spiders did have the occasional chance — including a bar-down by Schuster, and a pipe shank by Grotbeck with a sure-thing rebound to Henke that went wide. Though none of those would count as shots.

Thankfully, the spartan Minnetonka B scoreboard did not display the shot clock, which would’ve discouraged the Spiders even further than the score.

The “dagger” came midway through the third, giving the Ak Bars a four-goal lead. And after a few more meat-minute antics from you-know-who, the horn mercifully sounded on the Spiders’ first shutout loss of the season.

Scorekeeper Fleischhacker did his best to whisper the shot totals so as to not offend the bruised psyche of the dressing room. (33-13 if you must know.)

Lifetime against the Ak Bars, the record now sits at 4–5–1–1.

Next up, the Spiders will take their 2-4 record to Richfield next Sunday to face the 1–6 Northern Horde. The Spiders beat the Horde in the season opener 8–3. Puck drops 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 20.