Spence Scores a Hat-Trick, Erie Explodes for Nine Goals in Highest-Scoring Win in Six Years

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Erie Otters

Spence Scores a Hat-Trick, Erie Explodes for Nine Goals in Highest-Scoring Win in Six Years

November 7, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


St. Catharines, Ontario - After an all-winning opening weekend for the Erie Otters to open November, it would be right back to work with a three-in-three road-road-home weekend. The weekend would begin with the shortest travel of the season for Erie, going directly over the border to the Niagara Region to battle geographic rivals and top Eastern Conference team, the Niagara IceDogs. With Erie getting depth back thanks to the end of the suspension of Ty Henry, they would look to continue to play well in front of elite young goaltender Noah Erliden.

As much anticipation as the matchup would have coming in, it would live up to it in the opening 20 minutes of hockey. With a four-minute power play to open the game, Erie would convert from Sam Alfano (8, PPG) finding his third on the man-advantage this season - just 1:38 into the contest. The IceDogs efforts would show up slightly after this goal would come, finding their own offensive prowess to lead to their own goal. With 7:05 gone by, Andrei Loshko (9) would knot things up at 1-1. The two teams would exchange words after play multiple times, shots on net, and their own opportunities, but the score would remain 1-1 after 20. Erie would lead in shots 13-10 going into the intermission.

In the biggest breakout period of the season for the Otters, the offense would explode for not only a 16-8 shot differential, but more importantly - six goals. Just 3:19 into the period, Martin Misiak (6) would find the goal to put Erie up 2-1, and in the ensuing 10:26, Erie would find goals from Matthew Schaefer (2,3), Malcolm Spence (7,8), and the first-career Ontario Hockey League goal for Ty Henry (1) as Erie would absolutely take it to the IceDogs for a 7-1 result through 40. With the third period still ahead, Erie would look to keep things going in a positive manner and close things out.

The third period would start off as more of a pedestrian, kill-the-clock style frame, but just past the halfway mark of the game, Malcolm Spence (9, SHG) would record his seventh-career short-handed goal and the hat trick. The marker would also give Erie its third-straight game with a short-handed goal. Matthew Virgilio (2) would finally stop the bleeding from the Niagara side wiht 15:34 gone by, but Martin Misiak (7) would get one right back for his second of the night. Rafek Dianov (1) would close the game's scoring for the IceDogs, but the Otters would take the win 9-3 - their highest-scoring win since September 2018 in a 12-1 win over Flint. Erie would sweep the three stars, and win their third-straight game.

The three-in-three continues for the Otters, as they hit the road for a Friday night battle with divisional foe Guelph - the first such meeting of the season. Erie will then return home for Saturday night hockey against the Sarnia Sting for the team's annual Military Appreciation Night (pres. by Your Central Western Pennsylvania Toyota Dealer), with the first 1500 fans in the building getting a FREE Camo Otters Hat (courtesy of Toyota).

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