Otters best Kingston 3-2
Kingston, Ontario – Despite a late push from the Kingston Frontenacs, the Otters held them off for a 3-2 win. Devin Williams made 45 saves in the victory.
An early glass repair behind Lucas Peressini looked like it could diminish any quick momentum, but that wasn’t the case. Dylan Strome and Nick Baptiste skated in on net before Strome poked the puck in between Peressinin’s pads, putting the Otters on the board. Connor McDavid had two close calls, nearly putting more space between the Otters and Frontenacs, but Peressini robbed the Otters captain. Erie killed a four-on-three with Alex DeBrincat, McDavid, and Corey Pawley in the box. As McDavid was released to come back to even strength, Williams made a beautiful glove save, keeping Kingston off the board through the first.
After a shoving match closed out the first period, Darren Raddysh and Cody Caron started the second in the box for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Cory Genovese joined Raddysh 48 seconds later. One at a time, the Otters left the box, and Williams made another big save to keep Kingston scoreless. After shoving behind Williams, Taylor Raddysh and Zack Dorval dropped the gloves, both earning fighting majors.
Conor McGlynn was called for cross checking just before the halfway point, and nine seconds into the man advantage, Strome capitalized on a play from Baptiste and McDavid. The Frontenacs grabbed a breakaway on a turnover in the neutral zone, but Williams once again came up big, stopping the puck. Remi Elie gave the Otters a 3-0 lead at the end of the period before MacDermid and Caron popped the glass out again with a hit behind the Otters net. A cross checking call on MacDermid put the Otters on the penalty kill to start the third.
The Otters found themselves in penalty trouble early. Elie was called for tripping, giving the Frontenacs a quick five-on-three. MacDermid wasn’t out of the box long when he went right back in for boarding. The Otters penalty kill jumped into action, killing all of the penalties before Williams made another set of quick saves, stopping Kingston’s advance.
Quentin Maksimovich and Caron dropped their gloves with just over seven minutes left, Caron gesturing to the crowd for noise. Just over a minute later, Pawley found the back of the net, getting Kingston on the board.
The Frontenacs pulled Peressini with a little over two minutes left for the extra attacker. Elie and Strome both had a chance on the empty net, but the puck flew wide. McGlynn brought Kingston within one, the puck hitting the inside of the crossbar. With 9.8 seconds to go, the Frontenacs put the puck on net before both teams ended up on top of the crease, hunting for the puck before the play was blown dead. After one last face off, the Otters finished the 3-2 victory.
Strome extended his point streak to 15 games. Baptiste and Strome both finished the night with two points. The Otters have Saturday off before meeting the 67’s in Ottawa at 3 p.m. Sunday.
The Iron Workers Local Union No. 3 Ironmen of the game:
1. Dylan Strome – 2G
2. Corey Pawley – 1G, 1A
3. Devin Williams – 45 saves
