Down 6-1, Otters Battle Back to Thrilling 7-6 Shootout Win to Close Preseason
September 24, 2022 – Ontario Hockey League (OHL) – Erie Otters News Release
Clinton, Ontario – For the first time since 2019, the Erie Otters took the trip north of London to the community of Clinton, Ontario for the Knights’ annual exhibition contest at Eastlink Arena. With a sold out arena on hand in the Central Huron suburb, the Otters would look to rectify Friday night’s 3-2 shootout loss to their rival. This ‘neutral-site’ exhibition contest would serve as either team’s final preseason game, with the Otters getting their final look at the team on-hand before a trip toward the Canadian capital from Thursday to Sunday of the coming week.
First period action would open with the Otters all over the London defense, swarming the net for the first three shots of the game. The problem for Erie, that would dominate the rest of the period, would be penalty trouble. An early tripping call to Ty Henry would result in Ryan Del Monte (2) with a snipe over Erie goaltender Jacob Gibbons shoulder to make it 1-0 London. The newbie Del Monte would earn back-to-back goals in his debut games with London. After 7:01 of Erie playing a lot of time back in their defensive end, Carey Terrance (1) would battle in a seemingly hopeless position and somehow turning a hit off every post and bar into a goal. Terrance’s goal would make it a 1-1 game. London would respond with a pair of goals in 2:35 from Oliver Bonk (1) and Michael Levin (1) to make it a 3-1 London lead. Shots after 20 would be even at nine aside.
After unanswered goals finished out the first period, the trend would continue into the second period for London. In the span of 3:06 to start the new frame, London would see goals from Sam Dickinson (1), Ruslan Gazizov (2), and Easton Cowan (2) to jump to a 6-1 lead. All three goals would come from special teams, with the first two on the power play, and the latter shorthanded. The bleeding would finally come to an end :33 after the Knights’ last goal, as Noah Sedore (4) would grab his second of the weekend to make it a 6-2 game. This would prove to be the last goal of the period just 6:49 into it, as Erie would trail 6-2 heading into the final period – shots in favor of London 21-18.
The no-quit Erie Otters would start to beat the comeback drum early and often in the third period. The fun would begin for the Otters 1:25 in, as Kaleb Smith (2) would make it a 6-3 game, Lucas Signoretti (2) would make it 6-4 4:50 in, and Elias Cohen (3) would make it a one-goal game. With the pressure rising, and the excitement mounting for the Otters side, gloves would drop between Nathan Sauder and Michael Levin, and between Alex Messier and Nicholas Yearwood. All four players would have their days end early, but the days would not be done yet from the Otters side. With just under four minutes remaining, Cameron Lowe (2) would score from the bottom right circle to make it a tie-game – coming all the way back from a 6-1 deficit to make it 6-6. Erie’s battle-back would be rewarded with an opportunity to win it in the shootout – their second straight, and fourth of the preseason.
For the second night in a row, the Erie Otters would battle in the skills competition – an area they’d not won a game in during the 2022 preseason yet. It would take seven rounds of the shootout as the Otters would get goals from Carey Terrance and Lucas Signoretti (GWG), but the Erie Otters would complete the improbable, unlikely comeback with a 7-6 win in Clinton.
Erie closes the preseason with a record of 3-1-0-2, and will open the 2022-23 season on Thursday night, as they battle the Peterborough Petes on the road. The team will then head to Kingston on Friday night, and finally to Ottawa on Sunday. Erie’s four-game road-opener closes out the following Friday in Mississauga, and finally getting to open action at home on Saturday, October 8.
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