WEEKEND PREVIEW: The Season’s Final Three-in-Three
Erie, Pennsylvania — It’s another very busy week for the Erie Otters as they prepare for the final three-in-three of the season beginning on the road and ending at home.
It all begins Friday as the Otters head to Canada Life Place in London to open the weekend and a home-and-home with the Knights. London returns the favor Saturday as they visit Erie Insurance Arena on Tiki Luau Night. It’s an all-American battle to close out the weekend with the Saginaw Spirit making their final visit to town on Women’s Empowerment Night.
AHEC YEAH!
NWPA AHEC’s Weekend Preview brings the latest news, promotions, and what YOU need to know before YOU go further into the new year.
Northwest Pennsylvania Area Health Education Centre is a non-profit organization committed to helping communities in Northwest Pennsylvania meet their primary health care needs and enhance the quality of health in our region, especially the rural and underserved communities.
‘AHEC’ maintains partnerships with community, government, and educational agencies and institutions that will connect students to careers, professionals to communities, and communities to better health.
Head to nwpaahec.org to learn more or to apply!
LAST TIME OUT
The Otters would open things up with a short trip to the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines to take on the IceDogs. Niagara would jump out into the lead with two quick goals before the Otters could answer with one of their own as Tyler Cooper would strike to make it a 2-1 game. Hayden Reid would find the back of the net for Niagara starting the second making it a 3-1 contest. The Otters would answer with two of their own in fairly quick succession with Michael Dec and Kayden Edwards finding the back of the net. In the third, the IceDogs thought they won it with Noah Read’s late goal to make it 4-3. Erie would not go down without a fight as Andrew Kuzma would strike to make it a 4-4 game and send it to OT. The game would require a shootout and Riley Patterson would score on his first attempt, plus three-straight saves from Charlie Robertson would give Niagara the 5-4 victory.
Saturday would see the Otters welcome the Owen Sound Attack to kick off the annual back-to-back weekend at the EIA. The Attack would jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first. Just 21 seconds after the Attack scored their second, Michael D’Alessio found the back of the net to get the Otters on the board. A short-handed goal from Noah Nelson would make it 3-1 Attack before Andrew Kuzma would make it a 3-2 Attack lead heading into the second period. The second would begin with Lenny Greenberg scoring to make it 4-2 Attack. Erie would respond with two goals of their own from Ulysses Lombardi and Cal Hughes to tie the game at 4-4. For the second-straight game the Otters would head to OT and then a shootout. It would take until the eighth round for either team to find the back of the net as Jake Crawford would score the winner for the Attack as they would take the extra point 5-4.
Erie would play their first of two Sunday home games as they would wrap their season series with the Attack. The visitors would jump out to a 2-0 lead before the Otters would score a power play goal with Michael Dec doing the honors to make it a 2-1 game. From here Owen Sound would take over and would score three more goals, including a penalty shot from Harry Nansi as they would defeat the Otters 5-1.
ONE LAST THREE-IN-THREE
Erie kicks off their weekend with a Friday night tilt with the London Knights at Canada Life Place.
The Knights return the favor Saturday as they conclude their season series with their rivals from the Forest City.
The weekend concludes with the final Sunday home game of the season as the Saginaw Spirit come to town for the final all-American battle of the season.
WHO TO WATCH
Though the points have not come easy for Kase Kamzik, he showed what a physical specimen he can be as he dropped the gloves for the first time in an Otters uniform Sunday. Kamzik is a big kid but had not shown this physical side of his game. Now that he has a scrap under his belt, Kamzik is hoping to have this confidence translate to the score board as he looks to have a strong ending to his first season in the OHL and look forward to being a big part of Erie’s future.
Skill is certainly not an issue for Otters forward Andrew Kuzma and he has adapted well to wearing an Otters uniform. Kuzma is coming off of a week where he scored two huge goals for the Otters, including a late game-tying goal in Niagara as the Otters took the IceDogs to a shootout. Now with six goals in an Otters uniform since being picked-up, Kuzma is looking to close out this chapter of his hockey career strong as embarks on the next part of his hockey journey.
KNOW THE FOE
It has not been quite the dominant season that London Knights fans have been used to over the last few years but they have still been a tough test for any opponent. Offensively the Knights have been led by Ryan Brown, whom they acquired around the trade deadline from the Sarnia Sting. Lately, they have not played many close games, with a handful of defeats where they have been shut-down or a few explosive victories. London is always a tough opponent and the Otters look for their first win since September against their rivals as they embark on a home-and-home to close out the season series.
The Saginaw Spirit are up next for Erie as they are the team’s final opponent on the weekend, making their final visit to town on Sunday. The Spirit have seen plenty of offensive production from the trio of Egor Barabanov, Dima Zhilkin and Nikita Klepov yet have still had some of the same troubles keeping the puck out of the net. The Spirit embark on a difficult road trip as they hope to cement themselves among the playoff teams in the Western Conference and also a series sweep of the Otters.
HOW TO WATCH, LISTEN, & FOLLOW ALONG
The new home of Otters hockey is Flo Hockey!
Delivering a high-quality viewing experience, Flo Hockey provides access to more than 700 OHL games, and games from the QMJHL, AHL, ECHL, and more, streamed across a range of platforms, including PC and Tablet on Safari and Google Chrome web browsers, as well as iOS and Android mobile devices.
Fans can also see the NHL’s stars of tomorrow on the Amazon Fire, Apple TV, V and Roku platforms – right from the comfort of their homes!
For more information, head to flohockey.tv!
:
- PC and/or Tablet on Safari and Google Chrome web browsers
- iOS / Android mobile devices.
- Amazon Fire
- Apple TV
- Roku platforms
Flo Hockey provides live game action all season long, plus free-to-access video-on-demand content and a user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate. For more information, head to flohockey.tv.
LISTEN
Listen to Otters Hockey all across Erie County with iHeart Media Erie and the Otters broadcast network!
Every game can feel like a home game as a fan with the Otters Radio Network. With live-game broadcasts of all 68 Regular Season games, fans can always hear the action as it happens. Thanks to the Broadcast Home for Otters Hockey, iHeart Media Erie, fans can listen to every game LIVE on the iHeart App from ANYWHERE in the world! From Pennsylvania to Transylvania and everywhere in between, you’ll always be in range to hear Otters Hockey.
- iHeart Media(Erie, PA) is the Flagship Station for the Otters on WJET 1400 AM, and home to Otters Hockey in Pennsylvania. Games can be heard on terrestrial radio on 96.7 FM/1400 AM in Erie and the surrounding communities of NWPA, or can be livestreamed worldwide on the iHeart App.
FOLLOW ALONG
If you want to follow along in real-time to the weekend’s games, make sure you’re following the Otters on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. From live tweets of the action, scoring updates, photos, and highlights, the Otters’ social media is the best way to keep up with the team wherever they are.
UP NEXT
The Otters continue a homestand with another two-game weekend at the EIA, this time, with two Eastern Conference opponents as the Kingston Frontenacs and Niagara IceDogs come to town in the penultimate weekend of the regular season.
