Otters rattle IceDogs again in 6-2 victory

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – It was “home and home sweet home” for the Erie Otters this weekend as they completed a sweep of the Niagara IceDogs with a solid three-period effort and a 6-2 Ontario Hockey League victory before a crowd of 3,040 at the Gatorade Garden City Complex Saturday night. It was Erie’s fourth straight win in St. Catharines.rrMike Cazzola opened and closed the scoring for the visitors, at 5:36 of the first and 18:55 of the third, both goals on sweet set-ups by Greg McKegg, who also scored his fifth of the season, as Erie improved its record to 7-9-2-1, ironically the identical record Niagara had carried into the weekend.rrNotwithstanding game-long efforts by Chris DeSousa to inspire his Niagara teammates, the anticipated mayhem after Friday’s violent third period never materialized, but for one very early fight.rrQuick starts against Niagara proved a viable strategy for the Otters who had jumped the visitors 3-0 in the first period on Friday, and then opened a 2-0 lead before the halfway point of the initial frame in Saturday’s game. But first, there were leftovers from the previous evening’s contest when DeSousa, who fought early in the third period at Erie and then was banished with a misconduct with three minutes left in that game, dropped the gloves with Paul Cianfrini at Saturday’s opening faceoff. The pair was sent off with majors at the 0:05 mark and, oddly enough, that tiff seemed to settle down the two teams and they played spirited but clean hockey the rest of the way.rrThe “three centers” line of Zack Torquato, McKegg and Cazzola opened the scoring five minutes in on a pretty three-way passing play as Torquato moved the puck into the IceDogs end, passed to McKegg who dropped a pretty backhand to Cazzola all alone in the slot. The Guelph native let it go immediately and beat Mark Visentin low to the stick side for his seventh goal of the season. “It was a good win, we just have to keep it going,” McKegg said after the game. rr”I’m working on a good line with Torqs and Cazzola and we’re doing a good job of getting pucks to the net.”rNot long afterward, a similar play from the right boards resulted in an almost identical goal when Andrew Yogan spun around and put the puck on Anthony Luciani’s stick. A quick release, with a little help from defenseman Mike Schwindt’s skate, led to the right winger’s team leading 14th goal at 8:36. Tyler Hostetter earned the second assist on the goal.rrNiagara cut the margin in half at 10:05 when defenseman Matt Petgrave let a shot go from the point that Ramis Sadikov couldn’t handle. The puck fell at the Russian goalie’s feet, winger Josh Moes got his stick on it and Johnson Andrews finished the play with his second goal of the year, and second in consecutive periods against Erie.rrErie could have regained its two-goal margin at 16:20 when Yogan stole the puck from Schwindt in the neutral zone and walked in all alone on Visentin, only to have the puck roll off his stick when he went to his backhand. At period’s end, the IceDogs had outshot the visitors, 17:14. rrDeSousa, by far the best player for the IceDogs on the weekend, got his tam even with a power play goal at 1:46 of the second period, on a sweet feed from Moes, his second assist of the game, and it appeared that the home team was all the way back. rrIronically, it was the Otters who took inspiration from the short-lived Niagara comeback, and the visitors emerged from the period with a three-goal bulge. McKegg took a pass from Derek Holden with Moes serving a penalty for a hit to the head, faked a slapshot at the left circle that dropped Visentin to his knees, and then let a wrist shot go that restored Erie’s lead at 7:22.rrLater in the period, Brady Austin, the revelation of Friday night’s game, went to work. The 6-4, 225-pound defenseman-cum-forward from Bobcaygeon recovered the puck twice with big hits in the Niagara zone and the second time found himself with it just behind the goal line to Visentin’s left. His short pass found Matt Paton in front for this third of the season, and it was 4-2 at 17:24.rrErie benefitted from defensive confusion by the home team in the neutral zone to break in three-on-one and Yogan found Torquato in front of Visentin with a beautiful saucer pass. The Niagara goalie stopped the Erie captain’s first shot, but Torquato picked up his own rebound and slipped a backhander into the net for his ninth and it was 5-2 at 18:49, an excellent sign for a team that was 5-0-0-0 when leading after two periods this season. Erie outshot the IceDogs 19-10 in the period and were pulling away at the buzzer.rrThe third period was a foregone conclusion as the 7-11-2-1 IceDogs, playing their third game in three nights and with top scorer Alex Friesen a pre-game scratch for an undisclosed “upper body injury,” could not muster the sustained offense they needed, although they peppered Sadikov with 40 shots over the game. Erie scored the only goal, Cazzola’s second of the night and eighth of the season, and that was that.rrThe Otters next game is the team’s first Veterans Day tilt at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Tullio Arena. The IceDogs held a special face-off ceremony Saturday night to mark Remembrance Day, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Warrant Officer Dennis Brown of the Canadian Forces’ Lincoln and Welland Regiment, was killed March 3 by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. His three sons, 13-year-old Mackenzie, 10-year-old Owen and seven-year-old Ben, dropped the ceremonial first puck.