Just 10 Spiders extend streak to 15; beat Fighting Saints 9–3

March 2, 2011

Despite a short bench (10 skaters) and a sub goalie, the Spiders continued their winning streak against the Fighting Saints, winning a game that wasn’t as close as the 9–3 score suggested.

The Saints goalie (former Spider Eric Anderson) had little help from his defensemen, giving the Spiders time to camp on his doorstep and plenty of excellent scoring opportunities.

Jake Cison added to his team-leading points, contributing to most of the Spiders’ offense (finishing the night with 6 points — 3G, 3A — and tying his points-per-night record set on Dec. 20). A fine night was also had by Mike Johnson aka “Mr. Energy,” with a goal and at two assists. Other multi-point nights came from David Schuster (1G, 2A) and Eric Schlais (1G, 2A).

The Spiders also demonstrated a solid penalty kill throughout the game, giving up zero goals and few solid shots while a man short.

In net was Chad Jayasekera, subbing for the second time in as many seasons, backed up the Spiders, stopping 20 of 23 shots. Anderson stopped 23 of the 31 by the Spiders.

Final score: 9–3.

In the standings

With the later-than-usual reporting of stats by the league for the Fighting Saints game, the playoff picture has become a little more clear since Saturday’s game. The Spiders are still gripping the top spot in D1 West, with the Puck Hounds trailing by 7 points. In the crowded middle of the division, the Chaos (16pts) are jockeying to make a move on the Royals (16pts) by beating the third-place Maroons (18pts) to move up in a tie for fourth.

Next up, the Spiders face the 4–10–2 Ice Gators, a Friday rush hour game at Drake. Puck drops at 7 p.m.