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OHL Owen Sound Attack

Attack Lose on St. Patty's Day

March 17, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Owen Sound Attack News Release


The Owen Sound Attack and Erie Otters met for the last time in 2015-16 on Thursday, Mar. 17 and the luck of the Irish appeared to be on Erie's side on St. Patrick's Day.

Erie would use a three goal first period to jump out to a lead and force the Attack to play catch-up all night, something the Attack were unable to do as Erie would skate to a 6-2 win on the evening.

The Otters would jump out to a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game thanks to a redirection by Dylan Strome. Erie's captain would open the scoring after tipping a shot by defenceman Erik Cernak past Attack netminder and former Otter Daniel Dekoning at just 4:35 of the first.

Erie would then turn that into a 3-0 lead after goals by Nick Betz and Jake Marchment that would come just 27 seconds apart near the 11 minute mark of the frame.

Betz would make it a 2-0 lead by captializing on a partial breakaway before Marchment would increase the Otters' lead to a three spot by jumping on a loose puck in the Owen Sound slot.

Erie's 3rd goal would chase Dekoning from the cage and bring on Michael McNiven in relief for the Attack, who tried to generate some offensive momentum of their own after settling down following the Otters' 3rd tally.

That wouldn't happen though, as the Otters would thwart all 10 of Owen Sound's shots in the first 20 minutes to take that 3-0 lead into the 1st intermission.

And after the break, the Attack would go to work on cutting into Erie's lead.

After almost scoring twice while on a Paul Davis Systems Penalty Kill in the first period, rookie forward Nick Suzuki would finally find the back of the net, picking up his 19th of the year with 5:33 gone in the middle stanza.

The 16 year old forward would beat Erie's Devin Williams with a back-hand that went post and in after some sustained pressure by the Attack, and the goal would come on Suzuki's 4th shot of the night. Petrus Palmu and Jacob Friend would grab the assists on the play.

Owen Sound wasn't done there either.

Damir Sharipzyanov would cut Erie's lead to just one on a seeing-eye backhand just past the midway point of the game.

Sharipzyanov's 5th of the year would come after the Los Angeles Kings' prospect faked Otters' forward Alex DeBrincat out of his skates at the blueline, opening up enough space for him to slide the puck into the Erie cage with 8:09 remaining in the 2nd. Jaden Lindo and Justin Brack would grab the helpers on the play that made it a 3-2 contest and a new game after an early 3-0 deficit.

The Otters would stem the bleeding though, but they would need a late period powerplay to do so.

With 2:22 left on the clock in the 2nd, Jake Marchment would nab his 2nd goal of the night to make it a 4-2 lead for Erie, scoring on a rebound immediately after Michael McNiven robbed his first attempt.

Despite the late period goal, Owen Sound would have the majority of the momentum heading to the 3rd thanks in large part to a dominant 20 minutes of hockey that saw the Attack outshoot the Otters 14-6 in the middle frame.

The final period would be a battle of attrition to start, and the teams went almost 10 minutes without either side generating much in the way of offensive opportunities.

That would change though and with 10:05 left on the clock Erie would find the back of the net to make it 5-2 and pick up their 2nd three goal lead of the evening.

Travis Dermott would score the Otters' 5th goal on a snapshot from the top of the circle to the right of McNiven, and just over one minute later the home side would strike again to make it a 6-2 lead.

Alex DeBrincat's 50th of the season would give the home side a four goal lead, a margin that would stand as the final score with Erie holding the Attack to just three shots in the final 20 minutes of action.

The Mark McDade Remax Shots on Goal would stand at 25-22 for the Attack on the evening, with McNiven and Dekoning combining to make 16 saves on the night.

Erie players would sweep the Mac Taylor Corporation 3 Stars of the game with Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, and Travis Dermott earning 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stars respectively.

The Attack are right back in action with a 7:30pm tilt in Guelph against the Storm to wrap up the 2015-16 Highway 6 Rivalry. Fans can catch that game live on Rogers Local 53 or by tuning into Kia of Owen Sound Terry's Trailer Service Bear Radio on 560 CFOS.

Owen Sound will return home to take on the Kitchener Rangers on Saturday night at 7:30pm, the final contest of the 2015-16 regular season for both teams.

Tickets for that game are limited to standing room only and can be purchased at the DJ's Furniture Attack Box Office.

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