Alfano Notches a Pair as Otters Fall at Home 5-3
Erie, Pennsylvania – A night celebrating young athletes would welcome fans to the final home game in 13 days for Youth Sports Night (pres. by Rebich Investments). Looking to shake off a tough performance from Friday night against Saginaw, the Erie Otters would welcome the Sarnia Sting to town for the final time this season. Erie would start Charlie Burns to oppose Evan Maillet from the Sting side.
The Otters showed up to play tonight, putting six shots on goal within the first four minutes of the first period. 5:44 in, the Sting would stake their claim on the game and put the first goal of the night on the scoreboard. However, the Otters wouldn’t take no for an answer with Lucas Ambrosio (2) scoring his second goal of the season just a minute later. With just under eight minutes left in the period, roughing behind the net would send Pano Fimis and James Barr to the penalty box. A minute later Martin Misiak would join his teammate in the penalty box for slashing. The penalty boxes seemed to have rotating doors last night, with Sarnia’s defenseman Mitch Young sitting on the bench for slashing with five minutes to go. Back on even ice the Otters’ offense continued their attack on Sarnia’s goal but would be unsuccessful and end the first period tied at 1-1.
The second period would start off with an incredible save by Otters’ goalie Charlie Burns as he continued to defend the home net. The Otters would be given a one man advantage four minutes into the period when Sarnia is sent to the penalty box for a delay of game, and be sent again minutes later for tripping. The majority of the period would be uneventful until the 5:56 mark, when Sarnia’s Ruslan Karimov (10) would break the tie and make the score 2-1. A fight would break out behind the Otters’ net with four minutes left in the period, sending two Sarnia players back to the locker room, and giving the Otters a five-minute power play. Sarnia would find the back of the Otters’ net again with two and a half left on the clock, lengthening their lead 3-1 before going into intermission.
Just over a minute into the final period of the night the score would become 3-2 after Sam Alfano (23) would find the back of the Sting’s net. The Otters’ would then come together to defend the net as goalie Charlie Burns would lose his stick during the Sting’s offensive attack. The score would become 4-2 after Daylen Moses (6) would slip one into the net 8:25 into the period. With 6:25 left to play, Sam Alfano (24) would score his second goal of the game once again leading a potential comeback from the Otters. With less than two minutes left the coaching staff would make a last ditch effort to tie the game by pulling Charlie Burns out of the net and adding an extra man. The attempt would be unsuccessful and the Spirit’s would score on an empty net. The final score of the night was 5-3.
Erie gets an extended break after a few split home/road three-game weeks consecutively. The Otters now prepare for the trip out on the Eastern Swing for the only time this season, taking on Ottawa, Peterborough, and Kingston in consecutive nights from Friday through Sunday. Breaking up the regular season games of the week will be the highly-anticipated Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game presented by Enbridge Gas taking place on Wednesday, January 15 in Brantford – where Sam Alfano and Malcolm Spence will represent the Erie Otters. Erie will return home on Friday, January 24.
