OHL Erie Otters

Otters weather Storm

January 2, 2010 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


The Erie Otters (18-15-5-1) found themselves in a goal-scoring battle for the second straight game. And for the second straight game, the Otters outdueled their opponent, Saturday's being the Guelph Storm. Erie defeated the Storm for the second time this season, 7-5 in front of 3,658 fans that battled the snow to watch the win, the third straight for the Otters.

In the first period, the Otters, who entered the contest ninth overall in the OHL, scored three power-play goals to skate out to a 3-2 lead after the first 20 minutes.

Defenseman Derek Holden tallied the first goal of the contest at the 6:26 mark when he walked in from the blue line untouched and fired the puck just off the ice on the blocker side of Guelph goalie Cody St. Jacques to put the Otters ahead 1-0.

New York Rangers draft pick Mitch Gaulton recorded the lone helper on the play.

Erie would extend its lead at the 8:41 mark as captain Zack Torquato put the finishing touches on a pretty tic-tac-toe play to record his 18th goal of the season on the power-play.

Shawn Szydlowski feathered a pass to Tyler Hostetter, who was playing his fourth consecutive game at forward to fill the void left by rookie David Broll, and he found Torquato all alone at the side of the net for a tip in goal.

The Storm would not be out done as winger Tyler Carroll slashed Erie's lead in half as he put away his own man-advantage goal at the 10:44 mark. Sam Lofquist and Peter Holland picked up the assists.

After a Ben Chiarot holding penalty, Holden found the back of the net once again, his fifth of the season, and gave Erie its second two-goal lead of the period. Greg McKegg and Torquato were the helping hands on the goal at the 14:21 mark.

But just before the period could end, Holland took advantage of Otters defenseman Brady Austin losing his balance and roofed a puck over the shoulders of goalie Adam Wood with less than two minutes remaining, cutting the deficit to one.

The scoring didn't stop in the second period. Guelph tied the game at three as Chiarot put a slap shot over the blocker of Wood at the 6:56 mark.

The Otters would take the lead for the third time in the hockey game as rookie Jeremy Gottzmann netted his first career OHL goal as he crashed the net and deflected Anthony Luciani's wrist shot with his body and put the Otters back on top 4-3. Matthew Paton picked up the secondary assist.

The Otters would once again go ahead by two as McKegg put home a Torquato rebound at the 16:50 mark. Torquato carried the puck down the right side and slapped a puck off the right pad of St. Jacques and went right to McKegg and he had no problem slamming home 18th goal of the season. Cazzola added an assist on the play, his 24th of the year.

But the pesky Storm wouldn't give in as winger Taylor Beck beat Wood at 17:38 to put Guelph right back into the contest at 5-4. Connor Tresham and Carroll picked up the assists on the goal.

The Otters wouldn't go quietly into the third period, Torquato picked up his fourth point of the night on his second goal of the contest after he put away a loose puck after a hectic goal-mouth scramble to once again put the Otters up by two. Holden picked up the primary assist and McKegg had the secondary on the goal at 18:10 to give the Otters a 6-4 advantage heading into the final frame.

The third period started as a defensive battle - something this game hadn't seen until then - and each team struggled to generate opportunities.

But the defense would only last so long as Luciani gave Erie its first three goal lead of the game as he fired a snap-shot through the legs of St. Jacques to extend Erie's lead to 7-4. The goal was Luciani's team-leading 20th goal of the season. Linemate Andrew Yogan added the only assist on the play.

Guelph would answer less than three minutes later as Mathew Sisca deposited his 22nd goal of the season to put the Storm within two. But the Otters held tough and Wood made key saves down the stretch to give him his second win of his OHL career and the Otters their 18th of the season.

Next on the docket for the Otters is a Buck Night matchup Wednesday against the Plymouth Whalers, scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. Fans can purchase hot dogs, pop corn, beer and pop for just a dollar each, while selected seats are available for $8 in the lower levels and $6 in the upper levels of the arena.

Fans can purchase tickets through Ticketmaster, the Tullio Arena 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.

Check out the Erie Otters Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 2, 2010


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