Drysdale Ties Team Record as Otters Offense Leads Erie Past Hamilton
Erie, Pennsylvania – The Erie Otters offensive outburst against the Hamilton Bulldogs powered the team to an 8-5 win and a 2-0 start to the year for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
The Otters rolled with the momentum they created in the third period the previous night on home ice as Danial Singer opened the scoring on a breakaway at 5:44. Chad Yetman extended the lead to 2-0 a little over six minutes later with his first goal of the season. Hamilton rallied back minutes later with a pair of goals 55 seconds apart to even the score at two. Lightning would strike late in the frame for the Otters with Emmett Sproule and Daniel D’Amato netting a pair of goals within 50 seconds of each other to give Erie a 4-2 lead after one period.
Erie’s special teams got a workout to start the second period with three consecutive power plays. The Otters started to find their chemistry and would set up Maxim Golod for the team’s first power play goal on the season, as he buried a shot from the right-wing circle after a cross ice feed from Connor Lockhart. Golod later returned the favor, this time setting up Hayden Fowler in the slot for Erie’s second power play goal of the period and a 6-2 lead.
Hamilton stopped the bleeding in the third with a power play goal of their own from Avery Hayes early in the frame. Chad Yetman would get that one back for the Otters at 6:56 of the third with a shorthanded goal for his second of the game after Hamilton goaltender Zachary Roy gave away the puck to the Otters forward while vacating the net. Jamie Drysdale would pile on the insurance with his first of the campaign to extend the Otters lead to 8-3. That goal, along with four assists earlier in the game, gave Dysdale a five-point evening to tie the Otters record for points in a game by a defenseman, joining Steve Montador and David Froh as the only three players to do so. Hamilton would add two more goals before all was said and done, but the Otters would prevail over the Bulldogs 8-5.
Aidan Campbell picked up his first OHL victory in his first career start, stopping 19 of 24 shots faced. The Otters used seven different goal scorers on the night and 11 players collected points on the evening.
Erie will begin the first of eight three-in-three weekends with a road trip to Windsor to visit the Spitfires Thursday, September 26th, then head to London to face the Knights the following Friday, before hosting the Windsor Spitfires Saturday night at the Erie Insurance Arena at 7pm.
Single game tickets for the 2019-20 season are on sale now. Erie Otters season tickets and flex packages are also available and can be purchased in person at the Erie Otters front office located at 201 E. 8th Street in Erie, or by calling 814-455-7779. For the latest Otters news, visit www.ottershockey.com, or follow the team on Facebook (www.facebook.com/erieottershockey), Twitter (@ErieOtters) and Instagram (@ErieOtters).
Photo Courtesy of Matt Mead Photography LLC https://mattmeadphotographyllc.com/