The Owen Sound Attack scored five unanswered goals in the third period to come back from a 5-3 deficit and claim a big 8-5 win over the visiting Erie Otters Saturday night at the Bayshore.
Going into the final period, it looked as though the Attack were going to be on the wrong end of the hockey gods, as they fought the puck throughout the first 40 minutes, with the tipping point being the Otters fourth goal. On a strong net drive by Carey Terrance, who ran out of room and collided with Attack goalie Carter George, dragging the net minder well outside the crease. In just a few short seconds the Otters wound up firing the puck in the net for what the refs deemed a good goal. The Attack challenged the play, but ultimately the officials upheld the call on the ice.
It wasn’t just the call going against Owen Sound, but the fact defensemen Cal Uens who toppled into the net, took a skate to the face in a scary incident and was down hurt. Ultimately, Uens returned to the game wearing a full face shield, with just a cut across a bruised nose.
Regardless of how the first two periods unfolded, Owen Sound stayed determined going into the final frame, as they were at the very least going to give the Otters a fight.
It was more than that, as Servac Petrovsky scored just 1:16 into the period on the power play for his first goal in nine contests. Quick strike offence was the Attack’s way of showing they were not out of the game, as rookie Tomislav Brennan evened the score just 1:40 later, showing great hand-eye to knock down a waist high pass before roofing a backhander.
The Attack would claim the lead just before the midway point of the period, when Matthew Papais displayed his hand-eye, tipping a point shot from the slot area, beating the Otters goalie. Brennan then took advantage of a Bayshore bounce, as the Otters net minder was caught out of the net, giving the forward a yawning cage to extend the Attack lead to 7-5.
Captain Colby Barlow would seal the game with an empty net with just over a minute on the clock.
The Bears rookie goalie, George, faced his first adversity as an OHL goalie, giving up three goals in the first period, while then surrendering the controversial goal along with a power play goal in the second. The rookie showed his metal toughness as he completely shut the door in the third period, stopping all 11 shots he faced.
It looked as though the Attack were out of it early in the second period, but some good forechecking resulted in Cedrick Guindon finding space and burying his eighth of the season. Guindon would again pull the Bears back into the game as he took a perfect pass from Barlow and went post and in for the shorthanded marker.
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