Season opener: Fast start, slow finish

Oct. 27, 2013

The Spiders 10th season got off to a glorious start. Only it lasted a whole 17 minutes.

The Spiders took on the unknown ShameonIce squad for the first time. A team they knew nothing about. Except that Spiders B3 goaltender Brian Dow was skating out for the first time as a member of that team. “Go easy on me,” Dow requested of the Spiders.

Duly ignoring his request, the Spiders got out on top early and late, Lavigne from Berman just 1:07 into the game and the Spiders were up 1–0. Controlling the entire ice the rest of the period, the Spiders got the dreaded two-goal lead with just :03 left on the clock after the defensive end of the bench made D. Litton extend his shift, a perfect back-and-forth along the wall by Lavigne and Litton, and Litton’s screened knuckler somehow found its way through the five-hole, score it Litton from Lavigne and Berman, his second ‘A’ of the night.

In the second, even though the Spiders got into their customary (and apparently premeditated) penalty trouble, they still held the Shame at bay, outshooting them 8–2. But some sure things off the Spiders’ sticks couldn’t find their way into the net.

In the third, the Spiders’ legs, apparently perfectly conditioned for the 36 minutes that the Fall Tourney and Hockey for the Heart Tourney games last, lasted just a few minutes into the period. The penalty trouble that plagued the team all game, finally caught up. With “Bully” D. Litton in the box for tripping, Dow got his revenge. His right point shot got through and was put away on a rebound to pull the Shame within one.

But it also sparked the Shame into life. Their six shots in the first two periods must’ve been part of their strategy, as their seemingly fresh legs took over the game, while the Spiders sat back and enjoyed the show. It took six more minutes, but the Shame tied it up at 2 with 7 minutes to go, on a puck that snuck in just off netminder McCormick’s pad. After the Spiders went down one defenseman who went out with an “Upper Body” injury, the Shame hemmed the Spiders in their own zone, peppering McCormick with shots, and forcing turnover after turnover at the blueline. And eventually, the inevitable happened, 3–2 Shame lead, with just over three minutes to go.

The Spiders called their timeout and McCormick left for the bench at 1 minute for the extra attacker. An iced Shame puck brought the faceoff to the offensive zone. But a clearing attempt was played with a very high stick, and McCormick had to retake his net with under 30 seconds to go. And the Spiders never regained control enough to get a scoring chance.

Final: 3–2 ShameonIce.

The tilted ice can be seen in the shots: 8, 8, 13 for 29 for the Spiders, and 4, 2, 11 for 17 for the Shame. Also on the scoresheet, the Spiders racked up 20 PIM on 6 penalties, including an obligatory early-in-the-season too-many-men call, while the Shame’s K. Bartels went twice for tripping.

The loss, combined with the PIM, technically (by tiebreakers) puts the Spiders in 10th place in C3 East. But they’ll look to re-start their season next weekend with their final game on the preliminary Winter schedule against the IceDogs. Last season, the Spiders went 3–0 against those Dogs.

Puck drops at 9:30 p.m. at New Hope S.