THREE STARS: BIG ROAD VICTORIES FROM BIG PERFORMANCES
(by Mario Bruni, photo: James ‘Jeep’ DiCioccio / Erie Otters)
Erie, Pennsylvania – Far from home in the northern swing of the Ontario Hockey League, the Erie Otters would play a terrific weekend three-in-three – taking 4/6 possible points from teams above them in the standings.
Erie started off the road trip against a top team in the league, the North Bay Battalion. This game would see the return of Otters head coach Stan Butler to North Bay in his first-career game against the Battalion organization after 22 seasons of service. The Otters – looking for their first win under coach Butler – would deliver such in his homecoming to the Memorial Gardens. Erie would take a commanding 4-1 lead through 40 after three goals in the second period. After an injury to alternate captain Elias Cohen, North Bay would score two quick goals to make it a game, but the Otters would hold off the comeback effort and close with an empty-netter for a 5-3 win.
Friday night would see Erie battle the only team it hadn’t yet seen in the post-pandemic era, the Sudbury Wolves. Looking to build off the momentum from Thursday night, Erie would take a 2-1 after 20. However, the Wolves had other plans as they would defeat Erie 8-3 thanks to three shorthanded goals. Erie will get a chance for revenge against the Wolves on February 25 – the Otters’ first home game in 21 days.
The last game of the long-ways-from-home three-in-three saw Erie in a critical game against the Soo Greyhounds – the team that the Otters will be chasing and fighting for one of the final playoff spots. Erie downed Soo in come-from-behind fashion at the Erie Insurance Arena on Thanksgiving Night earlier in the season. The Greyhounds came out on home ice in dominant fashion, taking a 4-0 lead early into the second period. Enter the Erie Otters, who would score five unanswered to jump to a late 5-4 lead. The Greyhounds would tie the game with their net empty and send it to overtime. For the fourth time this season, Erie would take an overtime victory and bookend the weekend with wins.
Comeback games this season aren’t anything new for Erie, but the one played on Saturday won’t be one forgotten any time soon by the fans.
Looking for points in a furious fight for a playoff spot, Erie stepped up big time against tough challengers up north. With the wins fresh in mind, we revisit the efforts that made the pursuit of points possible.
THIRD STAR – ALEXIS DAVIAULT
A tremendous start to the weekend would come from weeks of growing comfort for Erie’s Alexis Daviault – acquired in mid-December by the organization. This weekend alone, Daviault recorded four points (1G+3A) including a few firsts.
It would start Thursday night in North Bay as Daviault would score the first goal of the game – and his first as an Otter – early in the first. #72 would then transition to being the helping stick as he would assist on both Pano Fimis’ and Colby Saganiuk’s goals on the night – earning the defenseman his first First Star honors for Erie.
Daviault would have one more assist in him, coming Saturday night as he would help Malcolm Spence find the back of the net.
Alexis Daviault’s comfort and confidence have grown exponentially the last few weeks, and if he can continue to find success like the road weekend brought him, a bright future lies ahead for the 2023 NHL Draft prospect.
SECOND STAR – CAREY TERRANCE
It’s becoming a trope to talk about the offensive success of Carey Terrance in 2023. However, as the second-year forward grabs a four-goal weekend to overtake the scoring-lead for goals and total points, you can’t ignore what #10 is doing.
Terrance started his week with a pair of goals in North Bay – firstly a power play goal from Ondrej Molnar , and finally with an empty net by way of Cameron Morton. #10 would score the then leading-goal in Sudbury on Friday night, assisted by Malcolm Spence. Terrance would score his final goal of the weekend in Erie’s comeback effort on Saturday night in the Soo.
As the 2023 regular season begins its final run, the offensive onslaught of Carey Terrance only continues to raise his stock for the 2023 NHL Draft.
FIRST STAR – FULL TEAM EFFORTS
Erie knew the task they had at hand against a team eying an OHL Championship like the North Bay Battalion on Thursday night. Despite the star power, the nearly spotless record on home ice, and the injury sustained to Erie’s alternate captain Elias Cohen, the Otters stood tall and were the dominant team in the North Bay Memorial Gardens. Two of our top star honorees – Alexis Daviault (1G+2A) and Carey Terrance (2G) – would be big-time difference makers in the game. Even when the tide started to turn olive green, Nolan Lalonde (24/27) and Erie’s defense stepped up when needed and held together a tremendous win over a contender in the Eastern Conference. What better way to give your new head coach his first win than against the team he’d won so many for?
Perhaps more impressively was how the Otters never said die on Saturday night against Sault Ste. Marie. Erie would rally to score five unanswered goals in the game’s second half, and an overtime winner courtesy of Spencer Sova. Scoring would start for the Otters from defenseman Atryom Kulakov, who would record his third goal of the season. Carey Terrance would cut the Soo lead in half before the end of the second period assisted by Pano Fimis and Malcolm Spence. Erie would score then shorthanded to begin the third period off the stick of Noah Sedore assisted by Fimis and Kulakov. It would be Malcolm Spence who would tie the game at four assisted by Alexis Daviault and George Alboim. Erie would find the leading goal from the stick of Dylan Edwards, recording his career goal from Kaleb Smith and Cameron Morton. Even as the Greyhounds would force overtime, the Otters would ensure it would be Sova-time, as Spencer Sova would record his 15th goal of the season from Colby Saganiuk. A full team effort on Saturday’s win is something that the Otters will need going forward as they look for a playoff spot in the final frame of the 2022-2023 OHL season.
Erie will start their week with the last two stops on the eight-game road trip. For the final time this season, Erie will battle divisional foe Owen Sound as they invade the Bayshore Community Centre on Wednesday night. Erie will then travel to Barrie for a Thursday night showdown against the Colts – their first trip to the Sadlon Arena in over three years. The final game of the week will see Erie finally return to the EIA to host the Sudbury Wolves. With every week becoming more critical than the last, Erie looks to build off the momentum from their two victories and put themselves in running for a playoff spot.
