Spiders outrun Knights, 7–6

Feb. 22, 2021

The win keeps the Spiders in a tie for second place in C3 West.

The Spiders took on the Knights for the only regular season matchup Monday night at Breck. The Spiders were greeted with a gauntlet of fans on the way into the arena, with the Armstrong-Cooper mites just having gotten off the ice and whooping up their alumni (well, at least some of the Spiders). But the three actual fans who stuck around and eventually took their seats in the Breck bleachers got their money’s worth of scoring and lead changes to keep them partially awake with the late-night start time.

The last time the Spiders played the Knights was the Frostbite Cup, March 2, 2019, though that season, for those who have tried to forget, the Knights were the only team the Spiders beat. Since this Knights team was a new squad to C3 that season, the Spiders have now gone 2–1 against this version of the Knights. A previous Knights franchise dates back to the early days of the AHA, whom the Spiders had last faced in 2010.

Jon Pappone opened the floodgates a minute and change into the game, putting the Spiders up 1-zip.

C3-leading point-getter #15 C. Huerta did the first demonstration his skills clinic a few minutes later on a Gretsky’s Office wraparound.

Midway through the first, a 50-50 puck chase by Harry Long and the Knights’ John MacDonald (wearing his antique Enken Bears jersey!) with MacDonald trying to take the outside, he ended up colliding with both Long and the no-longer-padded corner of the bench glass at full speed. After looking like he might have broken his wrist (seriously), he completely lost his temper and went after Long. And unlike two weeks ago, the refs saw the whole sequence, and assessed the jumper the significant penalty (instead of the jumpee). MacDonald got an unsportsmanlike minor and 10-minute misconduct, and ended up returning for only one shift in the second before hitting the (not open) Breck showers.

At 5-on-5, the Knights took the lead for the first time, with their long-reaching center #3 P. Carlson scoring his first of two on the knight.

But with 6 minutes to go, Schuster got his first of the night, from Johnson. Tie game after one period.

Early in the second, Johnson from Farner gave the Spiders the lead again, albeit temporarily. By midway through the second, the Spiders’ D was goaded into pinching for every loose puck, and getting burned by turnover after turnover, eventually making it 4–3 for the Knights.

On the lone power play of the game, Long set up Berman to re-tie it at 4 apiece. And in the final minute of the middle frame, Schuster notched one again, Spiders 5–4.

In the third, the Knights were looking desperate, knowing the game was still there for the taking. But instead Josh Gesch put on another glove clinic, shutting down the Knights at every attempt.

Four minutes in, Pappone was set up beautifully by Ronneberg and Berman through the crease to the back door, to make it 6–4 and give the Spiders some breathing room. That lasted a whole shift, as # was back at it again to pull within one. Four minutes later, and it was tied, yet again, with six minutes to go.

But at 3:44 remaining, Shawn Campbell put in the hardest shift of the night, and got the puck to Mike Mettee, and headed to the bench for the change. By the time Shawn jumped the boards, Mettee had beaten the Knight netminder to retake the lead.

The shocked Knights called timeout at 2:36, eventually pulling the goalie. But despite chances, the Spiders collapsed and protected the house, and Gesch came up huge. A final push got the puck over the blueline with 3 seconds to go, and that was enough. Spiders win!

Final score: 7–6

The victory keeps the Spiders in the tie with the Arctic Wolves for second place, though they still have a game in hand. The Spiders do have a tiebreaker thanks to 11–3 win at Woog earlier this month. But the rubber game of the series is actually next on the schedule, Sunday night at Saint Thomas Academy.

Since the game at Woog, the Wolves have gone 2–0, including a 3–1 victory over the first-place Pines.

Puck drop is at 7:40 p.m.