Spiders wake up in time to drop close one to Nighthawks Gold 4–3

Dec. 2, 2017

Late-night tilt at SLP caught the Spiders snoozing in first period.

In the latest start yet this season — 9:45 p.m. on a Saturday night — the Spiders hadn’t caffeinated themselves enough to start the game. By the first shift of the game, it was already 1-zip, with Nighthawks Gold leading scorer left defenseman #19 Josh Melstrom running the table from the opening faceoff. On the second shift of the game, the Spiders started warming up the penalty box. And by the third shift of the game, the Spiders found themselves down 2-zip, again thanks to Nighthawks Gold leading scorer left defenseman #19 Josh Melstrom dangling his way through the PK.

The game settled down for a few minutes, allowing the Spiders to answer back, as McCormick made a save, and Litton found Noreen cutting through the zone, who went the distance and got the Spiders on the goals portion of the scoreboard.

Two shifts later, however, it was Nighthawks Gold leading scorer left defenseman #19 Josh Melstrom dancing his way around red drill cones to make it 3–1, giving himself the natural Hat Trick, naturally. The lone SLP fan in attendance was snoozing and forgot to throw his hat.

With 19 off the ice for a shift, it was again the Spiders’ turn, with Tim Bullock “crashing” the goaltender, who filed a grievance with the union following the video review of the goal.

Add a few more to the PIM column and that was it for the first.

In the second, both teams wore the ice down to the concrete in front of the penalty boxes. One player in fact asked the scorekeeper to borrow their phone to place a late-night Jimmy Johns delivery to the SLP bin.

The second also had Spider right winger Dave Schuster leave the game due to an “upper-/lower-body injury.”

In the third, it was the penalties that would again do in the Spiders. After killing off one, an errant high stick in the Nighthawk zone gave the Nighthawks the hammer to nail proverbial coffin nail. A screen in front of McCormick allowed the dipping center to find the edge of the net, and put his team up 4–2.

Fresh from his 16-second rest in the box, Scott Bredael singlehandedly got the Spiders back to within 1, for his first of the season, and the Spiders second power play goal of the season.

On the next shift, the Nighthawks used the Spider strategy of taking a late penalty to defend the lead, with an assist by the striped crew errantly whistling a PK icing, and allowed the Spiders to re-learn the confusing (and opposite of the NHL) USAH rule 624(c):

If the Officials shall have erred in calling an “icing the puck” infraction (regardless of whether either team is shorthanded) a face-off shall occur at the end zone face-off spot nearest to the location of the puck when play was stopped.

Whereas the NHL rule 81.2 calls this as:

If the Linesman shall have erred in calling an “icing the puck” infraction (regardless of whether either team is short-handed), the puck shall be faced-off on the center ice face-off spot.

Nonetheless, the Spiders, with their goalie on the bench, had a couple of chances, including Mike Johnson hitting the post over a sprawled netminder. A late timeout with one more push, and that was all she wrote, handing the Spiders their second regulation loss this season.

The Nighthawks handily outshot the Spiders, thanks to a 14–7 margin in the first period while the Spiders were waking from their nap. But McCormick made 21 saves behind his porous defense, keeping the game within reach. And he even took matters into his own hands, gloves and stick, playing the puck like Gerry Cheevers on the numerous breakaways that sailed out of the Nighthawk zone. He even garnered his league-leading fourth assist on the season.

McCormick will head to the IR list for a few weeks of R&R, finishing this leg of the season at 2–2–1–1 with an .866 save percentage. The Spiders wish him a speedy return to his net and back to stacking the pads soon.

Standings Watch

The Spiders (2–2–1–1) trade spots with the Nighthawks Gold (3–3), and join the Middle of the Pack™ in C3 East along with the Maroons (3–3).

Those Maroons are next up for the Spiders, and it’s the first Sunday game of the season, in a traditionally Sunday night league. And an early start too, which will hopefully mean the Spiders are awake for the first period.

The Spiders last faced the Maroons on Feb. 22, 2015, before they moved to C2 after winning the division that year, but losing in the semi-final to the Leafs. For the 2017–18 season, the Maroons formed a second squad to place at C3. They are coming off a 2–1 loss to the still undefeated Fighting Loons.

Lifetime against the Maroons, a series that dates back to the Spiders’ first season in the AHA, the Maroons lead the series 3–7.

Puck drop is Sunday, 7:30 p.m., at New Hope.