IN FRONT OF SELLOUT CROWD, ERIE DOWNS KITCHENER 6-4 BEHIND GILMARTIN & TERRANCE PAIRS
Erie, Pennsylvania – After a 12-day hiatus, the Erie Otters returned home on Saturday night for the annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night (pres. by UPMC). With the upstart Kitchener Rangers in town, Erie would look to stop the visiting team’s streak of back-to-back wins. Erie would see a tremendous crowd on hand for their final Saturday of January in a night that means so much to the community.
Kitchener would strike early on against the Erie Otters, putting the team in an immediate hole to open game action. It would be the Franceso show in the opening period, with Franceso Pinelli (27) opening the period’s scoring, and Francesco Arcuri (32) closing out the scoring for period one. Erie would outshoot Kitchener in the first frame 10-9 and go 2/2 on the penalty kill, but find themselves in a 2-0 deficit to start the game off.
Down by a pair entering the second period, Erie wouldn’t immediately make an offensive impact – but by period’s end, they would. To start the middle frame, Kitchener would suffocate the Otters in their defensive zone in the opening minutes of the period, but the Erie defense would stand pat. On the other side of the flurry by Kitchener, Pano Fimis (12) would score just 2:43 in to finally put Erie on the board. This would spark a change in the hearts of the Otters, as the team would take over from here. It would be Liam Gilmartin (7,8) who would tie the game and put the Otters on top for the first time in the game by grabbing back-to-back goals. It would be all Erie to close out the second, as the team would take a 22-16 shots advantage and 3-2 lead into the final frame.
With a goal lead in the third, the Erie Otters would look to hold off the upstart Kitchener Rangers. Carson Rehkopf (19) would knot things up 9:20 in on a power play goal as Kaleb Smith would sit for a double-minor for high-sticking. Under two minutes later, Carey Terrance (19) would score a highlight reel shorthanded goal to put Erie back on top. Off a faceoff win just over a minute later, Owain Johnston would throw a slapshot on net that Ondrej Molnar (2) would tip through for a 5-3 Otters lead. In the dying minutes of the game, Mitchell Martin (9) would make it a one-goal game with under three minutes remaining. With the net empty, Carey Terrance (20) would put the game on ice for a 6-4 win.
UPMC Member Appreciation Weekend – and with it, January – comes to a close on Sunday afternoon with the final Sunday Family Funday of the season for the Erie Otters. The team will welcome the Niagara IceDogs to town, looking for revenge from a Thursday night loss at the Meridian Centre.
