Sports stats



OHL Erie Otters

Otters Fend Off Attack, Win 6-1

December 4, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


Playing their third game in three nights, the Erie Otters faced the Owen Sound Attack on December 4 looking to return home with a pair of wins from their weekend road-trip. Erie fended off Owen Sound the night previous, 3-2, but broke through for six goals tonight on the strong offensive play from Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat.

The beginning of the game continued a trend set by the two teams in previous matchups: both Owen Sound and Erie blocked shots, maneuvered sticks into passing lanes, and broke up plays. Neither team was able to put more than a handful of shots on the opposing net, but eventually the Otters' high-powered offense broke through: Dylan Strome, bursting through two Attack defenseman and staying strong on the puck, fed Ivan Lodnia with a pass in front of the net. Lodnia deked to his backhand and slipped the puck past Owen Sound goaltender Michael McNiven to put the Otters up 1-0 halfway through the period. Penalties by both teams created several further opportunities to score, but the goaltenders stopped everything they faced for the rest of the period. The Otters led the Attack 1-0 going into the second period.

Owen Sound evaded the Otters defense several times early in the second, but Erie goalie Troy Timpano stood strong in net to maintain the Otters' 1-0 lead. Shortly thereafter, the Otters scored on a broken play when Taylor Raddysh passed to linemate Alex DeBrincat; DeBrincat one-timed the shot and beat McNiven blocker-side to make the game 2-0. The Otters would take consecutive penalties after the goal, however, and the Attack scored on one of the resulting power plays when Nick Suzuki fired a shot through a screen and through the goalie. Timpano stopped 13 of the 14 shots Owen Sound sent his way in the second period, and Erie went into the second intermission up 2-1 on the strength of his solid performance in net.

Alex DeBrincat scored his 28th goal of the season just 15 seconds into the third period: McNiven kicked DeBrincat's first shot out with the pad, but the longtime Otter retrieved his own rebound and backhanded the shot past the goalie from a sharp angle. Then, in the second half of the third period, Owen Sound took six successive penalties, one of which was a double-minor for drawing blood on a high-stick to Otters forward Kyle Maksimovich. The Otters scored three times in the next five minutes: Dylan Strome, Jordan Sambrook, and Ivan Lodnia all beat Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael McNiven, putting Erie up 6-1 late in the game. Though Owen Sound surged in the final minutes to increase their shot total for the night, the Otters won 6-1.

Alex DeBrincat netted two goals and added an assist; Dylan Strome scored once and had three assists; Ivan Lodnia had two goals; and Jordan Sambrook scored a goal and an assist. In net, Troy Timpano made 38 saves on 39 shots for his OHL-leading 20th win of the season.

Nick Suzuki scored Owen Sound's lone goal, and Michael McNiven made 22 saves on 28 shots in the loss.

The Otters return home to Erie to play the Niagara IceDogs on Wednesday, December 7 for a brief four-game homestand.

Check out the Erie Otters Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 4, 2016


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