Otters reach 50 wins over Niagara
St. Catharines, Ontario – The Otters staged a comeback over the Niagara IceDogs, picking up their fiftieth win in the final game of the regular season 8-7. Dylan Strome secured the OHL scoring title and the franchise record with a six point game for 129 points and Alex DeBrincat finished the season with 104 points.
Strome needed four and a half minutes to give the Otters an early lead on a beautiful shot from DeBrincat and Raddysh. Christopher Paquette evened the score a minute later, redirecting a shot from Vince Dunn behind Devin Williams. Halfway through the first, Ryan Mantha put the IceDogs ahead before Darren Raddysh was called for holding.
Nick Betz earned a huge breakaway shorthanded, but Brandon Hope was there with an unyielding save. Strome wasn’t finished for the period, tying the game at two from Patrick Murphy and Alex DeBrincat to send the teams to the locker room tied after twenty minutes.
The flood gates opened at the beginning of the second period. Mikkel Aagaard and Cody Payne gave the IceDogs a 4-2 lead a minute and a half in before going to the power play. With DeBrincat in the box, Jordan Maletta scored on the power play, giving Niagara a three-goal lead. Cory Genovese was called for cross checking, but this time Raddysh found Nick Baptiste, who stick handled around the IceDogs defense with patience winning out for a beautiful shorthanded goal.
Maletta picked up his second of the game on the same power play, making it 6-3. On a four-on-four, Strome completed his first OHL hat trick and tied Mitchell Marner for the scoring title, but the Otters weren’t finished. On the first Otters power play of the game, Strome found Mason Marchment and the rookie passed to Baptiste, who buried his second of the game to bring the Otters within one to close the third.
The third period picked up right where the third left off. Daniel Dekoning took over in net for Williams, but the change didn’t deter the IceDogs. Dunn scored 43 seconds in to put Niagara back up by two goals. But while the IceDogs started, the Otters finished. Strome scored his fourth goal of the game from Taylor Egan and DeBrincat, tying an Otters record.
The two switched places in the second half of the period with DeBrincat putting the puck home from Strome, tying the game at seven. Strome nearly scored a fifth goal, but was denied by Hope. The Otters went back onto the power play and, with defenders all over Strome, Travis Dermott walked right into the slot and buried the puck with the game winner. The IceDogs had another power play chance through the final horn, but were unable to capitalize.
DeBrincat becomes the first Otters rookie to score 50 goals and 100 points, finishing the year with 51 and 104 respectively. In addition to winning the scoring race and the franchise points record, Strome also broke the Otters assist record with 84. Both finished the game with a franchise-high six points, tying the record. Egan’s assist was his first point in the OHL. Williams made 30 saves on 36 shots and Dekoning saved 13 of 14 with Niagara outshooting the Otters 50-32.
The Otters kick off the playoffs Thursday night in Erie against the Sarnia Sting at 7 p.m. before playing game two at home Friday.
The Iron Workers Local Union No. 3 Ironmen of the Game:
1. Dylan Strome – 4G, 2A
2. Cody Payne – 1G, 2A
3. Alex DeBrincat – 1G, 5A
