Otters drop first road game 6-5 in Flint
At the conclusion of a three-game road trip away from Erie Insurance Arena, the Otters were finally handed their first loss on the road, falling to the Flint Firebirds 6-5 in their first visit to Dort Federal Event Center in franchise history.
The Firebirds looked to spoil the Otters first visit to their home building by scoring the first two goals of the game. First, Zach Grzelewski scored at 5:15 unassisted to give Flint the initial lead. Will Bitten soon followed with a goal on the odd-man break to double the Firebirds’ lead. The Otters stopped the bleeding temporarily thanks to the first OHL goal from Jakob Mayenschein. His wrist shot beat Kyle Keyser short-side to cut the Flint lead in half at 9:36. Bitten struck again late in the first period with his second goal of the night, giving Flint the 3-1 lead entering the break.
The Otters had 44 seconds remaining on a power play entering the second period and they would make their opportunity count. Alex DeBrincat netted his 28th of the season to make it 3-2 26 seconds into the frame. Erie wouldn’t be done there, as Dylan Strome deflected a Travis Dermott shot less than two mintues later, tying the game at three. The tie was short-lived, as Flint got traffic in front of Jake Lawr and knocked it in to take the 4-3 lead. Devin Williams relieved Lawr in net following the play. The Otters penalty kill successfully stalled two Firebird power plays before getting a chance of their own on the man-advantage. Dermott made it count with his first goal of the season, tying the game at four apiece.
Flint extended their lead with two goals in the third period. Francesco Villardi lit the lamp at 2:03 followed by Will Bitten’s hat trick goal at 4:03. Dylan Strome responded 59 seconds later to cut the Erie deficit back to one. From there, Keyser locked it down for Flint in net, stymieing all of Erie’s scoring chances until the final horn. The loss moved the Otters’ record to 19-3-1-0 and was the team’s first loss on the road this season.
The Otters will be in action next on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday the 26th, when they face off against the Kitchener Rangers starting at 7:00.
The Iron Workers Local Union No. 3 Iron-men of the game:
1) Will Bitten – 3 G
2) Ryan Moore – 3 A
3) Travis Dermott – 1 G, 2 A
