FINAL: @OHLIceDogs (1) – @ErieOtters (10)
ER – @acirelli22 hat-trick
VIDEO: https://t.co/PLZHATOqoC pic.twitter.com/X6OYXtedM4— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) March 4, 2017
The Organization
Otters Bounce Back With 10-1 Victory Against IceDogs. “The Otters continued their offensive onslaught early in the second period, putting five shots on Niagara goaltender Stephen Dhillon before the IceDogs managed to record one.” [Otters Hockey]
Record-setting 2nd period fuels Otters in rout. “But with these Erie Otters, it’s not a matter of if they will score goals. It’s a matter of when and how many, especially on home ice, where a barrage of goals in a near perfect season at Erie Insurance Arena reached a franchise record-setting level Friday night.” [Go Erie]
Lake Erie Moment: ‘Sewer ball’ helps Erie Otters stay loose before games. ‘Before games, many Otters players gather in the garage at Erie Insurance Arena to play a game they call “sewer ball.” They form a circle and attempt to keep a soccer ball in the air without using their hands.’ [Go Erie]
So Peter Budaj has made save with his head and his rear end tonight. #versatile #tblightning
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) March 4, 2017
Penguins pull away in third to beat Lightning 5-2. “Mark Streit, who was a member of the Lightning on paper for a few hours Wednesday, haunts his (technically) former teammates by scoring the winning goal for the Penguins in their 5-2 win in Pittsburgh Friday night.” [Raw Charge]
Lightning falls to Penguins. “But in handing the Lightning a 5-2 loss Friday, Pittsburgh continued to show how far Tampa Bay has to go. The Lightning got swept in the three-game season series and cost itself a chance to make up more ground in the playoff chase.” [Tampa Bay Times]
Margin for error slims down more for Lightning after setback in Pittsburgh. “But despite the best efforts of goaltender Peter Budaj, who made his Lightning debut and stopped 30 shots, Tampa Bay suffered its second regulation loss since Feb. 2.” [Lightning Insider, subscription]
Seven games into his NHL career, @Adamerne73 got on the board with his first goal. Congrats! #NHLFirsts pic.twitter.com/H8eRpb7yiI
— NHL (@NHL) March 4, 2017
Adam Erne scores first career NHL goal and point. “All alone in front of Matt Murray, Namestnikov made the easy pass over to Erne for him to slide it home. The goal put the Lightning up 1-0 in the second period.” [Raw Charge]
A tribute to the traded. “Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman made sure that he has the money to resign his own free agents and fit in Victor Hedman‘s new raise. In doing so he traded away Ben Bishop, Brian Boyle, Valtteri Filppula and Adam Wilcox.” Here’s a photo gallery of Christine Gunn’s best moments snapping these players. [Sports Daily]
The League
How To Choose A Number That Doesn’t Annoy The Hockey World. “After the controversy caused by Josh Ho-Sang choosing to wear number 66 in New York this season, we have some advice for new NHLers to make sure they don’t suffer the same fate. Pay attention.” [Stanley Cup of Chowder]
Leafs deadline recap: Trades were made but were they any good? “This season is a bit different, in that the Leafs are (perhaps unexpectedly) in the thick of a playoff race, making every game from now until April so exciting and meaningful that you probably want to die.” [PPP]
Eddie Lack criticized for play by Hurricanes coach. “I don’t think it’s much of a competition,” Peters said. “Eddie’s played 10 games and he was poor in his last outing, let’s not kid ourselves. We’ve got a guy who is well ahead of the other guy, and the numbers back that up. That’s what I see.” [NHL]
This might not be our year, but we’ll get there again:
