OHL Erie Otters

Otters Gobble Up Bulls In 5-3 Thanksgiving Win

Published on November 26, 2009 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


The Erie Otters won their annual Thanksgiving Day game against the Belleville Bulls with a span of five unanswered goals in a 5-3 victory in front of 4,014 at Tullio Arena. The win snapped a four-game winless streak.

The win improves the Otters' record to 5-7-2 on the holiday, with their previous win coming November 22, 2007 against Belleville, a 4-3 overtime win. The 4,014 in attendance were the most for a Thanksgiving game since 4,066 witnessed the 2006 Thanksgiving Classic.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first, the Otters scored twice in 20 seconds to take a 2-1 lead into the first period break. Paul Cianfrini's slap shot from the high slot found its way to Bulls goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who weakly swatted it to a pouncing Anthony Luciani, and the winger put it home on the backhand with his team-leading 15th goal of the year at 19:21.

Bjorn Krupp took a delay of game penalty soon after the tying goal, giving the Otters a power play they would quickly capitalize on. Greg McKegg faked a shot from the right circle that fooled Grubauer, as McKegg fired a pass to the bottom of the left circle where Derek Holden easily tapped it into the open net for a goal in his second straight game at 19:41.

Luciani grabbed his second goal of the game on an odd-man rush with Stephen Genua. Using his speed to rush on the left wing, Genua streaked into the zone and fired a perfect pass to Luciani, who fired the one-timer past the stick side of Grubauer at 6:28. It was Luciani's fifth multi-goal game of the season.

The Bulls committed numerous turnovers in the defensive zone in the second, and the Otters were able to take advantage at the 13:57 mark. Mike Cazzola stole the puck from Branden Eden at the right circle, then walked in and fired a wrist shot past Grubauer for his 13th goal of the season. Grubauer was pulled in favor of rookie Tyson Teichmann after giving up the goal.

Zack Torquato completed the scoring for the Otters with a highlight reel goal 33 seconds into the third. The captain switched between the backhand and forehand to move Teichmann out of position and he slid the puck around the goaltender to net his 11th of the season.

Adam Payerl ended the Otters' run with his seventh of the season at 8:09, and the Bulls were denied on four straight power plays by the Otters in the third. A goal as time expired resulted in the final score of 5-3.

Jaroslav Janus made 20 saves for the win, although he was pulled in the third period for Ramis Sadikov, who made seven saves. The Otters outshot the Bulls 46-30, including a season-high 26 shots in the second.

The Otters head out on the road Friday night to take on the Guelph Storm at 7:30 p.m. Fans can listen to the broadcast on Fox Sports Radio AM 1330 The Fan or online at ottershockey.com.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 26, 2009


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