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OHL Erie Otters

Otters comeback from five down to earn point in London, 8-7 SO Loss

January 9, 2010 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


The Erie Otters (19-16-5-2) overcame their greatest deficit in team history to force a shootout and earn a hard-earned point at the John Labatt Centre in London Saturday night, losing 8-7 against the Knights.

With the Otters down 7-2 at the 6:39 mark of the third, Paul Cianfrini started the rally as a dump-in from Tyler Hostetter went off Cianfrini's body off the glove side post of Michael Hutchinson at 7:17.

The Otters were then given their first power play on a double minor penalty to Chris DeSousa for high-sticking, and Anthony Luciani delivered at the 11:05 mark with his 21st goal of the year at 11:05.

Derek Holden then scored a highlight-reel goal by taking a feed from Andrew Yogan and splitting the defensemen to sweep the puck through the legs of Hutchinson while falling down, making it a two-goal contest at 14:36.

Daniel Erlich was sent to the sin bin with 2:19 left in regulation, and the Otters pulled Ramis Sadikov for the extra attacker. Yogan scored from the bottom of the left circle with 31.8 seconds to go as the London crowd fell silent.

After a controversial icing call resulted in a faceoff in the Otters end with 25 seconds left, the Otters were able to successfully full Sadikov out the net and rush into London territory. Luciani missed an open net with eight seconds remaining, but the puck found Greg McKegg in the slot, and the sophomore forward fired it into the top shelf with four-tenths of a second remaining to complete the improbable comeback.

After a frenetic overtime, the Knights were able to capture the second point in the shootout and take the victory. The Knights went on the board with a pair of goals in the first period, as Phillip McRae and Jared Knight each found the net to put London in front 2-0 into the first intermission.

London continued to put up goals at the start of the second, getting three goals in a span of 1:59 from Leigh Salters, Michael MacDonald and Knight to make it 5-0, ending Chris Festarini's OHL debut in net at the 4:30 mark of the period.

The Otters then rallied for a pair of goals, as Mike Cazzola scored his team-leading 21st goal of the season on a one-timer pass from Zack Torquato while falling in the slot to put the Otters on the board at 6:43. Shawn Szydlowski then scored his and the Otters' third shorthanded goal of the year by deflected a McKegg shot from the blue line at 12:02.

MacDonald picked up his second goal of the game 91 seconds after the Szydlowski tally, giving the Knights their four-goal lead back, followed by another tally from Erlich 6:36 into the third.'

The Otters return home for three straight games at Tullio Arena, starting Friday night against the Brampton Battalion at 7:00 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets through Ticketmaster, the Erie Civic Center box office, ottershockey.com or by calling 452-4857.

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

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2010


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