Attack Sink Otters 6-3
It was a battle of 1st vs. 10th in the Western Conference on Friday evening as the Attack travelled to Erie to take on the Otters in the first of two on a weekend set. Coming into the game, Erie sat 10th in the Western Conference, but with Connor McDavid, Connor Brown and a slew of other young players in the lineup, this team will undoubtedly compete for a division crown in the next several years.
After a week of solid practice, Head Coach Greg Ireland preached the importance of a solid start and he received just that from his players. Zach Nastasiuk would make his return to the lineup after missing time with an upper body injury.
The Attack jumped all over the Otters and just 1:27 in, Holden Cook intercepted a pass and went in to score his 3rd of the season. The Attack would not stop there. Jaden Lindo would collect his 2nd of the year off of a Joseph Blandisi feed. Blandisi was not credited with an assist on the play.
As mentioned in our pre-game report, the Otters are a young team and can be dangerous if you take your foot of the gas pedal and the Attack did just that. The Otters went on the powerplay and Connor Brown would make the Attack pay times two as he netted his 11th and 12th goals of the season on separate man advantages.
Erie and Owen Sound would head into the second period deadlocked at two and that’s the way it would stay for the majority of the period despite Jordan Binnington and Oscar Dansk turning away several key chances. The majority of saves for the period would go to Dansk as the Attack poured 20 shots towards the Erie netminder in the second period alone. Gemel Smith would be the only Attacker to solve Dansk at 15:49 from Daniel Catenacci and Joseph Blandisi.
It would be 3-2 for the Attack heading into the third period, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long as phenom Connor McDavid scored a highlight reel goal to bring the Otters even just 1:55 in. Just over a minute later, the Attack would retake a lead they would not relinquish as Daniel Catenacci potted his 9th goal and then his 10th goal just over eight minutes later. Gemel Smith would tally his 8th goal of the season to ice the game for the Attack on the powerplay.
Gemel Smith and Daniel Catenacci each had 2 goals and 2 assist and both of them figured into the scoring on each of the Attack’s last three goals. Smith’s performance also extended his point scoring streak to 10 games. Over that span, the Dallas Stars prospect has tallied 7 goals and 9 assists.
Jordan Binnington stopped 20/23 shots, but none bigger than an Erie breakaway in the third when the game was tied 3-3. Binnington’s win gives him 64 career wins, 1 shy of tying Curtis Sanford’s club record of 65.
The Centennial Windows Three Stars of the Game were:
3) Connor McDavid 1g,1a
2) Gemel Smith 2g,2a
1) Daniel Catenacci 2g,2a (GWG)
The Attack is back in action on Saturday evening when they play the 2nd game of a two game set in Erie. All of the action can be heard live on 560 CFOS with Fred Wallace beginning at 7:00pm.
