Miracle on Ice
Dec. 23, 2018
Spiders at Knights
Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018,
9:15 p.m. – Richfield 1
Game 8 (AHA game 13601)
- Spiders final score:
- 3
- Knights final score:
- 2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spiders | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Knights | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
The 2018–19 C3 Spiders finally get off the schnide
The winless Spiders found the W column Sunday night with a short pre-holiday bench and a first-period deluge of scoring. Both those factors — and early lead and lots of room on the player bench — typically mean yet another L for the Spiders. However, the Knights were in the same predicament, and despite a third period comeback, couldn’t spoil the Spider holiday party.
On the very first shift of the game, just 12 seconds in, the Spiders got on the board, Jason Freed from two of the Daves (Sommerness and Schuster). (Nope, 12 seconds is not a record, that’s 7 seconds by Aaron Bedessem in 2/8/2009 vs. the Royals.)
Two minutes later and 49 minutes remaining on the clock, the Spiders had the worst lead in hockey, as Tim Bullock notched his first of the season on the power play, assist to the other Dave (Kuhnly), getting his second assist of the season playing in his second game of the season.
Late in the first, the Spiders added insurance (and the eventual game winner), with acting captain (with the rest of the team captaincy off on vacation) Eric Grotbeck from Bullock.
On to the second, the Spiders had to figure out how to eat up 34 minutes. First, the Spiders avoided the customary shorthanded goal against in a second period power play, and while in the third, the damn began to give, the Knights managed only two goals (officially both at the same time by the same player on zero shots, according to the scoresheet). But the Spiders held on by not getting a third period power play, and by the time the buzzer tolled midnight, the pre-Christmas miracle was in the books.
| Team | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moose | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 36 | 13 | 40 |
| Maroons | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 26 | 20 | 53 |
| Les Etoiles du Nord | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 26 | 22 | 30 |
| Royals | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 24 | 23 | 28 |
| Arctic Wolves | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 33 | 28 | 44 |
| Knights | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 18 | 28 | 36 |
| Wildcats | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 22 | 23 | 18 |
| Ak Bars | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 42 |
| Icedogs | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 21 | 32 | 75 |
| Spiders | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 31 | 34 |
Spiders win 3–2!
While the Spiders are still in the C3 East cellar, they at least add to their point total, adding up to three, a game behind the IceDogs, at 1–6–1.
Next up, the Spiders take on the Arctic Wolves (2–2–2–1), who are tied for fifth with the Knights (3–4–1).
The last time the Spiders played the Artic Wolves, it was a 4-zip shutout for the non-Spiders in March 2017.
Post-Christmas puck drop is 7:30 Sunday night at New Hope.
For details, see the box score and game summary.
