This week, the Erie Otters return to the Meridian Centre Wednesday night for a rare mid-week home date. Friday night, it's the first of three visits to the Hershey Centre for a date with the Mississauga Steelheads.
The IceDogs are lead by Graham Knott who has recorded a point in every game he's played in this year. His three goals and six assists lead the way, while Johnny Corneil just had a five game point streak stopped. Corneil has scored twice and added five assists, as has captain Ryan Mantha, who is among the league leaders in shots on goal In goal, Stephen Dhillon 237 saves in near the top of the OHL in that department.
Erie is lead up front by Alex DeBrincat, who in six games has scored eight and added seven assists. Line mate Taylor Raddysh has chipped in with seventeen points, five of those being goals. Troy Timpano, acquired in a trade with Sudbury, is living up to his billing with a 1.50 goals against average, one shut-out and a 9.43 save percentage. The Dogs won the only meeting on October 6th, 4-3.
Friday night in Mississauga, it's the first of six meetings with the Steelheads. Owen Tippett is tops on offence with seven goals and 4 helpers but it's a pair of returnees from NHL camps that have lead the way in the past six. Michael McLeod has one goal and eleven points over that span and Nathan Bastian is a point behind McLeod and has six goals. Like Erie, the Steelheads picked up a goalie in the off-season. Matthew Mancina has a goals against of 3.39 and a save percentage just under .900.
Both game begin with a 6:30 pre-game on 610 CKTB.