Bertuzzi steals show against Otters
By Tony Saxon, Guelph Mercury
The spotlight might have been on Erie Otters super rookie Connor McDavid, but it was the Guelph Storm’s Tyler Bertuzzi who stole the show Friday night at the Sleeman Centre.
Bertuzzi snapped a seven-game scoreless drought with his first two goals of the season as the Storm downed the Otters 6-3.
McDavid, the 15-year-old granted exceptional status to come into the OHL a year early, had one assist.
“I’ve been a little bit frustrated, but I’m not a goal scorer,” Bertuzzi said. “Still, it was nice to get that monkey off my back.”
It was easily Bertuzzi’s best game of the year, and not just because of the goals. He and linemates Patrick Watling and Ryan Horvat did a superb job of cycling the puck in Erie territory all night.
Watling had a goal and an assist and Horvat a pair of assists.
“We definitely did a good job of cycling the puck down low. Me and my linemates were all over them all night,” Bertuzzi said.
The game was tied 3-3 heading into the third period, but Bertuzzi’s second of the game — a spinning wrist shot from the slot that beat goaltender Oscar Dansk high stick side 1:46 into the third — proved to be the winner.
Coach Scott Walker has a theory about Bertuzzi’s slow start. He said the Sudbury native, who grew about three inches over the summer, is still growing into his body.
“It’s taking him a while to get used to his new size,” Walker said, “but he’s getting better every game and this was his best game not because of the goals, but because of the way he played.”
Walker said Bertuzzi is “just a kid that wants to compete and wants to play and it’s important he not think too much on the ice.
