Otters pick up first win of 2015, top Steelheads 6-3
Mississauga, Ontario – The Otters started off 2015 with a 6-3 win against the Mississauga Steelheads. Eleven players combined for the six goals and 12 Erie assists with Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, and Travis Dermott all notching three points.
The Otters wasted no time after their first puck drop of 2015. DeBrincat notched his 30th of the season from Nick Baptiste and Kurtis MacDermid five minutes in with the Otters coming off the penalty kill. Cory Genovese gave Erie a two-goal lead just over two minutes later with Baptiste and DeBrincat picking up their second points of the game. Everett Clark and Genovese dropped the gloves with just under five minutes to go after Clark took a jab at DeBrincat. Both were sent to the locker rooms, but Genovese took an extra two for instigating, putting the Steelheads on the power play.
Josh Burnside put Mississauga on the board with about a minute and a half left, but the Otters weren’t done. Strome put the puck in the net with under a minute to go from Patrick Murphy and Nick Betz. Sean Day tripped MacDermid with 4.3 seconds to go, and the Otters started the second period on the power play.
Erie didn’t need the entire power play to make something happen. Strome scored his second in a row and the first power play tally of the night barely two minutes in, those assists going to DeBrincat and Dermott. With the Otters on another man-advantage, Trent Fox netted his seventh of the year on a huge rebound from Strome, with Dermott picking up the secondary asssit.
While Erie dominated most of the period, the last minute belonged to the Steelheads. Lucas Venuto struck first, making it 5-2. But twenty seconds later, Michael McLeod cut the Otters lead again, making it 5-3 to end the period.
Kyle Pettit didn’t let the Mississauga goals stand for long. Barely two minutes into the third, Pettit found the back of the net, restoring the three-goal lead for the Otters with assists to Fellows and Dermott. The rest of the period came down to defense, both netminders keeping the puck out of the back of the net before the clock expired on the Otters’ 6-3 win.
Aside from Strome, DeBrincat and Dermott all with three-point nights, Baptiste notched two points, and the Otters picked up goals from five different players with points from 11 different players. Devin Williams made 31 saves in his first game since Dec. 7. DeBrincat now has 30 goals and 29 assists for 59 points. Strome climbs to 70 points thanks to 26 goals and 44 assists, while Dermott creeps up on his career-high 28 points with 21 points in 30 games.
The Otters head home Saturday night to host the Windsor Spitfires at 7 p.m.
The Ironworkers Local Union No. 3 Ironmen of the Game:
3. Lucas Venuto – 1G
2. Jimmy Lodge – 2A
1. Dylan Strome – 2G, 1A
