Otters score 5 unanswered, sweep home and home with London
Erie, Pennsylvania – The Otters scored five unanswered goals to come back from a 3-0 deficit and defeat the London Knights 5-3. Alex DeBrincat’s second period goal gave him his 31st and the new Otters’ rookie goal scoring title.
Chances went back and forth through the first period, both Michael Giugovaz and Devin Williams making huge saves early on. With London shorthanded, Matt Rupert came into the Otters zone on a breakaway, but Wililams denied the Knights winger, keep the game scoreless. On the other end of the ice, Giugovaz made a toe save on Patrick Fellows, narrowly keeping the puck out of the net. But it was London who drew first blood, Christian Dvorak putting the puck over Williams’s shoulder for the 1-0 lead with just over a minute to go. With just under 30 seconds left in the period, Dvorak struck again, giving the Knights a 2-0 lead going into intermission.
A back and forth on goals had fans angry after an apparent goal by Dylan Strome was waved off before the Knights picked up their third goal from Julius Bergman. Bergman’s goal stood after Strome’s goal was officially reviewed and the call on the ice stood. Nick Baptiste started the Otters comeback after putting a pass in the net from Connor McDavid and Darren Raddysh to make it 3-1. With Joel Wigle in the box for interference, DeBrincat found the back of the net, bringing Erie within one before time expired.
The third period belonged to Erie, with three unanswered goals. McDavid lit the lamp just over three minutes into the period to tie the game, redirecting a shot from Travis Dermott with Remi Elie getting the secondary assist. Quentin Maksimovich looked like he had the game winner, but the puck pinged off the crossbar. Seconds later, it was younger brother Kyle Maksimovich who put the puck behind Giugovaz for the 4-3 lead, with Fellows and Troy Donnay lending the assists.
Minutes later, Mitchell Marner hit DeBrincat hard from behind and was sent immediately to the locker room with a game misconduct and a five-minute boarding major served by Drake Rymsha. Just over a minute into the power play, Strome got his revenge, putting the Otters up 5-3 from Dermott. After the goal, DeBrincat was back on the ice on the power play. With a little over three minutes to go, London pulled Giugovaz for the extra attacker. The Knights played solid defense, keeping the puck out of the empty net, but the extra man wasn’t enough to get London back on the board, and the Otters finished off their sweep of the home and home.
McDavid moved to a five-game goal scoring streak and has at least a point in his last six games. DeBrincat’s new record beats Tim Connolly’s record of 30 goals as a rookie, set during the 1997-98 season. He moves to 61 points on the season, good for second with the Otters behind Strome’s 76.
The Otters Kingston Friday night at 7 before the North Bay Battalion come to Erie Saturday night.
The Iron Workers Local Union No. 3 Ironmen of the Game:
3. Christian Dvorak – 2G, 1A
2. Nick Baptiste – 1G, 1A
1. Connor McDavid – 1G, 1A
