The Erie Otters (6-9-2-1) welcomed back two things Friday night at the Tullio Arena,
goalie Jaroslav Janus and more importantly, the win column, in a 9-3 drubbing of the
Niagara IceDogs.The nine goals were the most since the Otters defeated the Windsor Spitfires at Tullio Arena, 9-5, on January 18, 2008.
Janus set the tone early with some key saves at the start of the game, just as the Otters were generating offensive chances for themselves.
Brady Austin recorded his first career Ontario Hockey League goal to open the scoring for Erie at 7:21. The 16 year-old took a pass from Matt Paton in the slot and fired it through the glove side of Mark Visentin for his landmark tally.
Zack Torquato scored the first of his two goals 39 seconds later on the power play, on another one-timer from the slot. The captain rifled the pass from Mike Cazzola past Visentin's glove side for his seventh goal of the season.
The Otters would take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission after Shawn Szydlowski put home an Andrew Yogan rebound from the left circle for a goal in his second straight game, scored at the 11:13 mark.
Niagara would make things interesting in the second period as Andrew Fritsch and Andrew Agozzino would find the back of the net and close the gap to a 3-2 Erie lead.
But with 45 seconds remaining in the period, Anthony Luciani added to his team-leading goal tally with his 13th marker of the season. Luciani took a pass from Szydlowski in for a breakaway down the right wing and wristed home an important goal for a 4-2 Erie lead after 40 minutes of play.
The Otters continued their strong play into the third, as Cazzola had a prime scoring chance but missed the net by inches. Fortunately, Torquato fired the puck from the high slot several seconds later and put home his second goal of the game 36 seconds into the frame.
Erie continued to pile on the goals just as the IceDogs piled into the penalty box. Tyler Hostetter and Yogan scored 53 seconds apart on the power play to make it a 7-2 Erie lead and thusly Visentin's swan song, as he was pulled in favor of Petteri Simila.
Although the IceDogs scored another tally to pull within four, the Otters fired back with another pair of goals 35 seconds apart late in the game, as Brett Cook notched his third of the season from the high slot at 16:25 and Austin shot a one-timer from the left circle at 17:00 for his second of the game.
Janus made 23 saves in his return for Erie, while Yogan (1g-2a), Torquato (2g-1a) and Luciani (1g-2a) all had three point nights.
Special teams also enjoyed a strong game, as the power play went 3-for-6 and the penalty kill was perfect, going 5-for-5.
The Otters have a rematch against the IceDogs Saturday night in St. Catherines at 7:00 p.m.. Fans can listen to game action on Fox Sports Radio AM 1330 The Fan and ottershockey.com, starting at 6:45 p.m. with the pre-game show.
For further information contact the Erie Otters at 814-455-7779 or e-mail the Otters at paul@ottershockey.com.
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