Otters fall 4-3 in final minute
Sarnia, Ontario – The Otters jumped out two score three goals in 2:15 in the second period before Sarnia staged a comeback to top Erie 4-3. Connor McDavid scored in his first game back since November, and Dylan Strome (7) and Travis Dermott (5) both extended their point streaks.
The first period was quiet for goal scoring, but not for skill. In his first game back with the Otters since breaking his hand, McDavid put on a stick handling clinic in the Sarnia end, keeping play alive in the offensive zone until Troy Lajeunesse poked the puck away and out of the zone. Jake Marchment had a nice chance in his first game as an Otter, but Taylor Dupuis stopped the shot, keeping the game scoreless through the first 20 minutes.
What the first period lacked in scoring, the last five minutes of the second period more than made up for. Nick Baptiste opened the scoring with his thirteenth goal of the season from Strome and Patrick Murphy. A minute and a half later, Sarnia left McDavid alone, giving him space to split the defense and get in close on Dupuis to put the puck in the net for the 2-0 lead from Dermott. Not even a minute later, Taylor Raddysh picked up his thirteenth goal of the year from Shaun Bily and Marchment for the third Otters goal. With just over a minute to go, Alexandre Renaud ended Devin Williams’s shut out, cutting the lead to 3-1 before the horn.
Erie kept picking up solid chances in the third, but the puck refused to find the back of the net. But while scoring was over for the Otters, that wasn’t the case for Sarnia. Jordan Kyrou picked up his first of the night with just over three minutes to go before adding another with Dupuis on the bench with under a minute to go. In a last ditch effort, Jakob Chychrun took the shot, the puck bounced off an Otter in front, and behind Williams, finishing off the Sarnia comeback with a 4-3 final only two seconds from the horn.
McDavid picked up where he left off, continuing a four-game scoring streak started November 7 against Sarnia. Marchment’s assist is his first point as an Otter, his seventh assist, and his thirteenth point of the season.
The Otters head to London Friday night for the first half of a home and home before bringing the Knights back to Erie Sunday evening at 5 p.m.
The Iron Workers Local Union No. 3 Ironmen of the Game:
3. Jakob Chychrun – 1G, 1A
2. Connor McDavid – 1G
1. Jordan Kyrou – 2G
