Spiders celebrate Hockey Day/Week/Weekend In/Across America with first W in a month

Feb. 19, 2017

With playoff hopes rapidly dimming, the Spiders dug deep and, despite giving up Hockey’s Worst Lead (three-goal margin), held on to beat the Blade Runners 6–5.

The Spiders scored early, then often, to put the fifth-place Blade Runners on their heels. After Bredael scored off the opening faceoff, assist to Farner, it was followed by the same line, with Bullock from Bredael and Farner, then Grotbeck from Elling. By halfway through the first, the Spiders were wondering how long it would take to cough up that lead, much as had happened in the first meeting with the Blade Runners. The answer came at 5:58 remaining, on a perfect screen of McCormick.

The officiating crew, which included the same guy who did the solo stint in the Spiders’ game vs. the LED Nord, started calling the same curious penalties, giving the Spiders’ PK plenty of reps. It took a minute for the Blade Runners to convert on their first power play, though it took the refs longer than that to decide it was a goal. But the Spiders answered back on the ensuing faceoff, with Elling scoring, from Berman and Litton. Spiders 4–2.

Then Schuster scored unassisted early in the second to put the Spiders back up by three, at 5–2, which was immediately answered by the Blade Runners, making it 5–3. The refs wanted it even closer, and put Grotbeck in the box for a trip, and it took just 7 seconds to make it 5–4. And on the very next shift, the Blade Runners seemed to score again, but the refs waved it off, only to call an actual goal one play later. And it was suddently a tie game, with half the game remaining.

Both teams seemed to buckle down, and the lone tally in what was left of the second went to the refs.

The third was all zebra too, making inexplicable call after call. But both PK units were more than ready, especially the VIP PK line of Pappone and Fritz, who forced cough up after cough up in the Blade zone.

It would take a full-strength goal to clinch the game, with just under four minutes remaining, with Elling scoring, assist to Pappone, to make it 6–5 for the Spiders.

With just over a minute, the Blade Runners pulled their goalie, and caused quite the pileup in front of McCormick with just over a minute to go. Somehow the refs found a callable offense in the scrum, giving the Spiders more momentum via a much-needed PK to finish out the game.

Final score: 6–5. Final shots, the Spiders were handily outshot by the Blade Runners 37–29, with McCormick making some incredible saves in the third to preserve the victory.

Standings watch

Despite the win, the Spiders’ playoff hopes are on thinner ice than area lakes in mid-February 2017 (today’s high temp: 59???). Still firmly in firmly ensconced in 8th place, the Spiders gained ground on the C3 West middle of the pack, but will have to overcome four teams in the mix ... and win out while those teams somehow hit the skids, not to mention clinching tiebreakers.

On the same New Hope S rink Saturday night, the Silverbacks did what no other C3 West team has been able to do this season: beat the LED Nord in regulation. Don’t worry, the Nords are still far and away locked into winning the division, at 12–1–1–2 and 27 points, leading the entire AHA, and hold a five-point margin over the second-place Arctic Wolves.

In third place (9–5–2), the Black Ice, whom the Spiders face next, lead the AHA in their own way. Their PIM star, #37 Jason Knoll, holds a 21-minute margin over the second-place player in the entire AHA in penalty minutes. At 63 PIM, he’s reached the secondary discipline threshold set by the league, whereby a player who reaches 40 minutes is suspended for two games (incidentally, he served that suspension the last time the Spiders played the Black Ice); and a player who reaches 60 minutes is suspended for three games. With only four games left on the season, he’s running out of time to reach the coveted four-game suspension that comes from 80 PIM.

Puck will drop back at New Hope (eighth and final game there this season; thanks Pub 42 for the team table all season!), Sunday night at 9 p.m.