OHL Erie Otters

Cazzola's Four Assists Lead Otters To 4-1 Win In Saginaw

Published on December 29, 2009 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


The Erie Otters continued their mastery of the Saginaw Spirit as they moved into sixth place in the Western Conference with a 4-1 victory Tuesday night at the Dow Event Center.

The line of Zack Torquato (2g,1a), Greg McKegg (2g) and Mike Cazzola (4a) continued to their strong play by combining for nine points and taking part in all four Otters goals.

Torquato opened the scoring for the Otters as he shot the puck from a strange angle in the left corner that bounced off the leg of Spirit goaltender Anthony Peters and into the net for Torquato's 15th goal of the season at 6:41.

The Otters added a power play goal with a minute left in the first, as McKegg made a nice move through the Saginaw defense from the high slot to the bottom of the right circle and fired a wrist shot off the short side post for his 16th goal of the season.

In the second period, the Otters appeared to have stretched their lead to three, but Anthony Luciani's shot went off the post. Ten seconds later, the Spirit were able to capitalize with a Barry Sanderson goal to cut the deficit to one coming into the third.

Jaroslav Janus picked up where he left off from Monday's overtime loss by making several key saves at the start of the third period, including robbing Josh Shalla on a breakaway.

McKegg picked up his second goal of the game at 8:42 of the third as he beat Peters on the glove side from the slot to give the Otters insurance.

After David Shields took the only penalty of the game for the Otters with 2:31 remaining, the Spirit had the extra attacker to leave the net empty. While Cazzola had plenty of time to shoot into the gaping net as the penalty kill expired, he passed the puck to Torquato for the final goal with 30 seconds remaning.

Janus made 36 saves in the win, and also had his first assist of the year on McKegg's first goal. The Otters (16-15-4-1) have beaten the Spirit in all three matchups this season, and surpassed the Spirit in the standings with the win into sixth place of the Western Conference.

The Otters close out the calendar year with a road game on New Year's Eve Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. against the Niagara IceDogs. Fans can listen to the broadcast locally on Fox Sports Radio AM 1330 The Fan or online at ottershockey.com. The pre-game show starts at 5:45 p.m.

For further information contact the Erie Otters at 814-455-7779 or e-mail the Otters at paul@ottershockey.com.

Check out the Erie Otters Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 29, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central