Oshawa-Erie game report Nov. 13

ERIE – Perhaps they were looking ahead to Saturday’s visit by the Ontario Hockey League’s premier team, and maybe even they were a trifle overconfident in the midst of a season-high three-game winning streak: whatever the case Erie took the longest time to get going Friday night before 3,002 at Tullio Arena, but in the end prevailed 3-2 over a spirited Oshawa team.rAnd, if the Otters are “game-ready” for Windsor, they have the Generals to thank; Friday’s game is exactly what the doctor ordered in terms of preparation for the high-flying Spitfires. One proviso however; the home team will need to be skating at full speed from the opening face-off to the final buzzer. They won’t be allowed to spot the visitors a 2-0 lead, come roaring back with three second-period goals and then hold on, against a team that comes in at 11-0-0-2 in its last 13 games.rrFull value for the win was veteran Jaroslav Janus, whose return to the Otters from the American Hockey League coincides with the four-game winning streak. He was especially stalwart in the first and third periods when the visitors outshot the Otters, 16-6 and 11-7 respectively.rrOshawa got on the board with the only goal of the first period at 12:03 when Erie defenseman Dave Shields had the puck in the right corner of his zone and lost his stick. The puck skittered along to Nick Esposto at the half-boards and the Oshawa forward passed quickly to Conor Stokes in the slot. The big left winger from Lansing, NY lifted a high shot over Janus’s glove for his third goal of the season. Oshawa was full value for the lead and the biggest cheer by the Tullio Area faithful came 14 minutes in when Anthony Luciani levelled John Padulo with a thunderous body check inside the Erie zone.rrErie would face a little more adversity before righting the ship. With Greg McKegg off for hooking, Tyler Hostetter and Shields lost the puck in their skates in the Erie crease and one of three things happened: one or the other defensemen knocked it in off a skate or an Oshawa forward poked it in, but the result was the same: 2-0 visitors with Swiss native Alain Berger being credited for his seventh of the year at 2:54.rrAfter another 70 seconds of listless hockey, Shawn Szydlowski took one for the team, challenging the Generals’ Victor Terreri in a spirited scrap, with the decision going to the visitor, but the crowd was back in the game. And when Luciani and Emerson Clark dropped the gloves at the ensuing face-off, both were sent off with majors and misconducts as the referees sought to head off a breakout of the Friday night fights. It would have been an interesting tilt had it been allowed to develop as Luciani’s ability in that area is recognized and Clark went into the game with eight majors, second only in the OHL to the Soo’s Dylan King with 10.rrAs it turned out, only Andrew Yogan remained from the second line with Szydlowski and Luciani on the sidelines; coach Robbie Ftorek had the good fortune to cobble together a trio of 10th forward Jordan Coccimiglio and defenseman Hostetter and they immediately picked up the pace for the home team. Coccimiglio just missed his first OHL goal, whacking an open-net feed from Yogan off the left goalpost on their first shift, and their persistence on a protracted scramble in the Oshawa crease on their second shift paid dividends at 8:45. With Michael Zador down and floundering, Yogan finally fished the puck out of a crowd to the left of the goalie and broke the ice, with well-earned assists going to Coccimiglio and HostetterrPlaying four-one-four three minutes later, McKegg wheeled around out of the left corner and put the puck on a charging Mitch Gaulton’s stick in the slot and the defenseman one-timed it high over Zador’s glove to tie the score.rrThe maxim has it that “one good turn deserves another,” and at 14:24, it was McKegg’s turn to be the beneficiary of a seeing-eye pass. Zack Torquato, skating down the right wing, laid a beautiful diagonal pass on McKegg’s stick at the left wing circle and the sophomore winger has his seventh of the year with the ensuing low wrist shot and Erie had the lead for the first time. It was doubly significant; with that pass, his second assist of the period, Torquato became the fifth Otter in history to register 200 points with the team, while McKegg’s second point of the period gave him 19 on the season, eclipsing the 18 points he totalled in 2008-09.rrFrom that point on it was the Jaroslav Janus show and the Slovak netminder was worth the price of admission, staring down the opposition as he handled 34 of 36 shots on the contest. His best save of the final period came in the 13th minute when Padulo broke through the Erie defense, only to be stymied by Janus. The team captain lauded his efforts after the game. “J.J. is playing great, we’ve been scoring for him, and getting a lot of good bounces,” said Torquato.rrMike Cazzola, who was kept off the scoresheet on this night but was a going concern for all three periods, was impressed by the team defense that the Otters exhibited on this night. “Keeping them scoreless (in the third) was nice. It was another big team win for us.”rrCoach Ftorek agreed. “We’re playing a very balanced game right now.” After a slow start, the 9-9-2-1 Otters have climbed to .500 hockey. Saturday night’s game will be a solid test of their worth.rrThe coach couldn’t let Zack Torquato’s special milestone pass without mention. “It’s nice to see Torqs get his 200th point tonight.  He’s getting his line going and I wish him well toward 250 points”rrThe Otters will go to war against the Spitfires in special camouflage uniforms Saturday night. Game time is 7:00 p.m.