Guelph, Ontario – The New Year is here! The first game of the 2023 portion of the season takes the Erie Otters to the Sleeman Centre in Guelph to take on the Storm. With the return of Colby Saganiuk (Upper Body Injury) and Liam Gilmartin (Suspension) and the debut of recently-acquired center Pano Fimis (NIA), Erie had a lot of things to be excited for to start the new year. Taking on a Guelph team directly above them in the standings, Erie would hope that the first of a weekend pair would kickstart a leapfrog in the Midwest Division.
While the Otters would start the game with a shots advantage and favorable opportunities in their offensive end, they would suffer a devastating 3:30 stretch. During the near-four-minute exhibition, Guelph would see two power play goals and two even-strength goals from Ben McFarlane (6, PPG), Valentin Zhugin (9), Braeden Bowman (8, PPG), Jake Karabella (10) to throw them on top, 4-0. As the period came to an end, the Storm would take their 4-0 lead alongside a 13-10 shots advantage into the second period.
What went right for the Guelph Storm in period one would continue near the halfway mark of the second period. Valentin Zhugin (10) would score his second goal of the game to make it 5-0, before Max Namestnikov (15) would score :61 later to make it a 6-0 Guelph lead. Erie would finally strike back, as Malcolm Spence (7) would score his first career power play goal to make it a 6-1 game – giving Ondrej Molnar a point for his sixth-straight game on an assist. Pano Fimis would also grab his first point as an Otter from an assist. Just 2:07 later, Taeo Artichuk (3) would have a breakaway to the net front from Liam Gilmartin to give Erie back-to-back goals. Erie would kill a penalty late, and ride a small wave of momentum into the third in a 6-2 game, outshooting Guelph 23-22.
Erie would play a solid third period for the most part, outshooting Guelph 10-6 in the final 20 minutes, but being unable to find the back of the net. On the opposing side, Valentin Zhugin (11) would score a hat trick with a goal in every period to give Guelph their eventual final score, 7-2. Erie would outshoot Guelph 32-27 in the loss.
The New Year is just underway for the Erie Otters, as the team finishes out the three-in-three weekend with a pair of home games back at the Erie Insurance Arena. Saturday will see Erie host Guelph for game 34/68 on the season, as the team looks to start the second half off on the right foot. The game’s promotion will be Winter Wonderland, with the first 1000 fans receiving a free Erie Otters Snow Globe (pres. by Rebich Investments).
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