Friday, November 28, 2014

11/27 Recap: Baptiste debuts

Nicholas Baptiste (+1) was unable to score in his Erie debut Thursday as the Otters cruised to a 5-1 victory over Mississauga. Despite not scoring, Baptiste had a very strong game while skating on the Otters' top line with Dylan Strome ('15) and Alex DeBrincat ('16). His speed and aggressive style helped his line produce some dominant shifts, and should lead to good things as the unit continues to gel. Erie hosts Belleville on Saturday.

Justin Bailey went without a point for the third straight game as Kitchener was defeated by Peterborough 3-1. Eric Cornel was also kept off the score sheet for the victorious Petes, who are back in action Friday at Ottawa. Bailey and the Rangers get right back at it with a Friday as well with a visit to Kingston.

In Sweden, Gustav Possler punched a team-high four shots on goal as MODO dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to HV 71. Victor Olofsson produced one shot on goal while logging a career-high 17:11 of work. Linus Ullmark was given a night off after making nine consecutive starts in the MODO crease. MODO hosts Lulea HF on Saturday.

With veteran goaltender Bernard Starkbaum unavailable, Jonas Johansson made his second start of the season for Brynas, allowing six goals on 32 shots in a 6-1 loss to league front-runner Frolunda. The performance drops Johansson to 0-2 with a 6.30 GAA and .843 save% in top league action this season.