Erie Otters Capture Third Straight With 4-3 Victory Over London Knights

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -The Erie Otters (12-11-4-1) took their first completed a perfect weekend with their third win in a row as they defeated their rivals, the London Knights, 4-3, as they scored three first-period goals and played solid defense in front of 3,757 fans at Tullio Arena Saturday night.

The first period was controlled start to finish by Erie, who arguably played its best period of the season.

The Otters got their scoring started 3:04 into the contest when rookie left winger Stephen Genua earned his first career Ontario Hockey League goal as he tipped in a Jordan Coccimiglio cross-crease pass on a three-on-one to beat London goaltender Michael Houser to give Erie an early 1-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, forward Greg McKegg capitalized on a Knights’ turnover at their own blue line. The second-year winger skated in on Houser and slipped his 12th goal of the season underneath the blocker to extend the Otters lead to 2-0 just over five minutes into the game. It was the team’s fourth straight game with at least one power play goal.

Andrew Yogan, who netted the game-winner in Guelph Friday night, deflected a David Shields blast from the point at the top of the crease to send Erie to a 3-0 lead after the first 20 minutes.

Erie goalie Ramis Sadikov, who is making his second consecutive start for Jaroslav Janus, turned away all eight shots he faced in the frame.
The second period was a different story as the Knights appeared to have found their legs and pounded away for 21 second period shots in the direction of Sadikov, who stopped 20 of them.

Sadikov stood his ground for most of the period as he made several key saves to keep Erie ahead 3-0. The Russian made several saves on both second period power play opportunities to stymie the Knights.

The only puck to slip past Sadikov in the period came at the 17:59 mark as Steve Tarasuk put home a rebound from the top of the crease for his seventh goal of the season. Daniel Erlich and Justin Taylor picked up the assists on the tally.  

The Otters could only muster seven shots at Houser, as the defense was the main priority for the club in the second period.

In the third, the Otters regained a three goal lead as captain Zack Torquato rifled a one-timer past Houser at the 3:58 mark of the third period. McKegg corralled a loose puck in the corner, and fed the biscuit to a wide-open Torquato who slapped it past the blocker of Houser to extend Erie’s lead to 4-1.

But the Knights would make it a game as Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Nazem Kadri lifted a shot over the glove of Sadikov to put the Knights back in the game at the 7:13 mark of the third.

London captain Justin Taylor then tipped a Kalle Ekelund shot from the point past Sadikov to set the stage for a hectic final eight minutes.

The Knights pulled their goalie with a little over a minute to go and had several key opportunities to tie the game and force over, but Sadikov and the rest of the defense held off the pressure of the Knights and edged out the victory, their fifth win in six games at home.

Sadikov made a career-high 42 saves to secure the win for Erie, while McKegg picked up a goal and an assist.

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