Depleted Spiders pull out 3–1 over Fighting Loons on DST Sunday

March 13, 2016

Despite getting outshot 22–15, the short-benched Spiders dominated where it counted … the scoreboard.

With a bench again decimated by “March,” even the New Hope bleachers outnumbered the red sweaters, the Spiders played another solid game, in front of great goaltending, to knock off the Fighting Loons and take the season series 2 games to 1.

It took until late in the first for scoring, Grotbeck from Pappone and Freed. (With a “Plus” for Schroeder, who had stepped on the ice just in time.)

And Schroeder got his name on the actual scoresheet in the second, as he and the Loons’ Brady went for incidentals. Followed by Lavigne for avoiding drawing a four-minute high-sticking penalty.

The Loons tied the game up six minutes into the third, on a freak flying puck that went straight up off McCormick’s stick save, and narrowly down just behind the goal line. If only the net had gotten knocked loose yet again.

Halfway through the third, Johnson reclaimed the lead for the Spiders, on a setup from Farner and Litton.

Schroeder Twig.

A scary moment in the third, as Schroeder got jammed against his stick, and ended up breaking it into FOUR pieces. (You should’ve seen the other guy… )

The Loons’ bench coach Rob Little pulled a Patty Roy move and pulled their netminder Heather Rogers with just under two minutes to go. On the Spiders’ second faceoff attempt in their own zone, the setup play finally worked with Lavigne nailing the 140 footer, for his first of the season, assists to Pappone and almost-team-leading assist juggernaut McCormick.

After the ensuing faceoff, they pulled their goalie again, and Farner sent the same shot as Lavigne, only his coasted no more than two inches wide left and into the piled snow at the side of the net, but still icing. Nonetheless, the Spiders held on for the win, taking the game 3–1.

Shots against McCormick were 22 (7, 10, 5), while shots against Rogers were 14 (5, 5, 4, plus the empty netter), with Loons blocking shots left and right and slot, keeping the puck out of the crease.

While the Spiders can usually found snoozing on DST Sundays, their Daylight Savings record improves to an impressive 6–3–1, including a streak of three in a row (see sidebar).

The win gives the Spiders an 8–10–1 record on the season, and actually a move ahead to fifth place thanks to tiebreakers over the Mastodons. Ahead of the Spiders in C3 South are the Ak Bars, who lost not only their goalie, but lost to the Du Nord on the next-door New Hope N rink, in … yet another PIM fest for the Ak Bars.

(In a move up from last week, the Ak Bars now claim the Top 5 spots on the PIM leaderboard. At 170 PIM, they are out-penatly-ing ALL the other C3 teams. The next highest C3 team is the C3 East Wildcats, at 154. The next highest South team, at 92 PIM is the Arctic Wolves, a difference of 78 PIM.)

The Spiders face that second-most penalized team next in the 2015–16 season finale. The Arctic Wolves are also in second place in C3 South, and have a bit more to play for than the Spiders this week. While the top three C3 South teams are all assured of a playoff spot, an Arctic Wolves win, combined with a Royals’ regulation loss would give the Arctic Wolves the C3 South crown. The Royals play the Du Nord, who can, with a win, jump ahead of the Wolves if the Wolves lose or tie. So the Spiders can definitely play a bit of deck chair shuffle spoiler.

The C3 Wildcard race is a bit clearer, but still tight. The Ak Bars are front runners and assured a spot, with the Nighthawks a point back. If the Nighthawks win, they are in. If the Nighthawks lose in regulation, the C3 West ShameOnIce and Blade Runners would tie the Nighthawks, and would set all the tiebreakers in motion for that final spot.

The Spiders, despite being out of the race as of last week, somehow climbed back from the depths of not only C3 South, but the entire C3 level, having sank to a stranglehold of last place just two months ago. This week’s numbers find the Spiders just one slot behind a playoff-clinching team in C3 South, and in a five-way tie under the elimination line for the wildcard race. Not bad for a team that could score barely a goal for three months.

It’s an early Saturday, Family Friendly Fest, game. Head out to Richfield to see the last game of the Spiders’ season. Puck drops at 5:45 p.m.