OHL Erie Otters

Otters 3, Attack 2

Published on December 3, 2016 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


Visiting Owen Sound to play their second game of the weekend, the Erie Otters hoped to improve their away record after losing to Guelph the night before. They managed to eke out a 3-2 victory against their midwest division rival.

Neither team would score through the first half of the first period, but eventually the high-powered Otters offense broke through: Kyle Pettit drew a penalty and redirected a hard shot past Owen Sound goaltender Michael McNiven on the resulting power play to give Erie the 1-0 lead. Erie netminder Troy Timpano, starting his nineteenth game of the season, shut the door at the other end with several difficult saves to maintain the lead, and the Otters skated off for the first intermission with the one-goal lead after twenty minutes.

Though Owen Sound failed to score on their chances in the first period, they didn't wait long to strike in the second: Jonah Gadjovich slipped the puck into the net during a scramble in front of the Erie goal to tie the game 1-1 at 4:23. Further, Owen Sound continued to dominate the second period by putting four shots on Timpano in quick succession, but they could not beat the Erie netminder for another goal. Despite getting outshot and spending extended periods of time in their own zone, Erie regained its lead midway through the period when Gera Poddubyni's shot bounced past McNiven for his fourth goal of the season. In the closing minutes, Timpano was tripped up on a play by an Owen Sound forward; the resulting scrum earned Erie several penalties, but the Otters held on to escape the second period with the 2-1 lead.

The Otters, coming out with a jump in their step after being out-possessed in the second period, added an insurance marker early in the third. Shaun Bily pressured Michael McNiven when the netminder went to play the puck, stripped him of it, and passed to Christian Girhiny. Girhiny ripped a shot into the empty net to give Erie the 3-1 lead. Owen Sound fought back in the final minutes of the game, however, and Nick Suzuki banked a sharp-angle shot off Timpano to pull the Attack to within one. With the netminder pulled, Owen Sound maintained almost a minute of offensive pressure late in the game, but Erie was able to escape with the 3-2 win.

Kyle Pettit, Gera Poddubnyi, and Christian Girhiny scored Erie's three goals, and Troy Timpano made 34 saves on 36 shots for his league-leading 18th win of the season.

For Owen Sound, Jonah Gadjovich and Nick Suzuki both had a goal and an assist, and Michael McNiven made 20 saves on 23 shots in the loss.

The Otters play their third game in three days against Owen Sound on Sunday, December 4, looking for four points out a possible six for this road-trip.

Check out the Erie Otters Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 3, 2016


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