OWEN SOUND, Ontario – Scott Stajcer frustrated the Erie Otters from start to finish.

Until Greg McKegg scored in the final minutes, the Otters couldn’t solve Owen Sound’s goaltender in a 3-1 loss in front of 2,112 at Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre on Saturday.

The Otters (9-11-3-1), losers of three straight since a season-high, four-game winning streak, outshot the Attack 43-35. But Stajcer (42 saves) shut out the Otters until McKegg scored his 10^th goal of the season with 4 minutes, 56 seconds left in the third period.

McKegg’s goal, which extended his career-high goal and point streaks to six and eight straight games, respectively, moved the Otters within 2-1. McKegg’s goal streak, the longest in the OHL this season, is three shy of equaling Brad Boyes’ franchise record of nine straight games, set from Nov. 4-25, 2000.

Jason Wilson snapped a scoreless tie 9:38 into the opening period for the Attack (9-14-1-2). Stajcer maintained that one-goal lead into the third period, even though the Otters had six power-play chances – including a 5-on-3 for two minutes late in the second. The Attack added the eventual winning goal 5:15 into the third, as Mike Halmo (goal, assist) scored. Jason Wilson also had a goal and assist.

Garrett Wilson scored into an empty net with 35 seconds left – his 15^th goal of the season. Jaroslav Janus earned his third straight loss in net for the Otters despite stopping 32-of-34 shots. The teams meet again today at 2 p.m. in Owen Sound.

SUMMARY

Attack 3, Otters 1

Erie 0 0 1 — 1

Owen Sound 1 0 2 — 3

1^st Period — 1. Owen Sound, Jason Wilson 7 (Carroll, Halmo), 9:38. Penalties — Mignardi (O) tripping, 16:53; Halmo (O) interference, 19:42

2^nd Period — None. Penalties — Yogan (E) hooking, 8:15; Zweep (O) tripping, 11:57; Halmo (O) goaltender interference, 16:54; Halmo (O) high sticking, 16:54; Yogan (E) unsportsmanlike conduct, 16:54; Carroll (O) unsportsmanlike conduct, 16:54; Mignardi (O) tripping, 19:55.

3^rd Period — 2. Owen Sound, Mike Halmo 3 (J. Wilson, McGurk), 5:15. 3. Erie, Greg McKegg 10 (Luciani), 15:04. 4. Owen Sound, Garrett Wilson 15 (Mignardi), 19:25 (en). Penalties — Paton (E) tripping, 11:11; Cazzola (E) hooking, 12:46; Yogan (E) hooking, 18:19.

Shots on goal — Erie, 15-18-10—43; Owen Sound, 13-10-12—35.

Goaltenders — Erie, Jaroslav Janus 3-2-1-0 (34 shots, 32 saves); Owen Sound, Scott Stajcer 8-11-1-1 (43 shots, 42 saves).

Power plays — Erie (0-6), Owen Sound (0-4).

Referee — Dave Lewis. Linesmen — Mike Pryde, Kendrick Nicholson.

Attendance — 2,112.

Three stars

* Scott Stajcer, Attack (42 saves) ** Mike Halmo, Attack (GW goal, assist) *** Jaroslav Janus, Otters (32 saves)

Check out TSN’s videos regarding Michael Liambas‘ suspension.

Check out this Q&A with Erie native Justin Mercier, a rookie forward with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland.

What: Erie Otters (9-10-3-1) at Owen Sound Attack (8-14-1-2)

When: Today, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.

Where: Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre – Owen Sound, Ontario

On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)

Players to watch: Erie – C Zack Torquato (10 goals, 176 assists, 27 points), C Andrew Yogan (11-13-24), RW Anthony Luciani (14-10-24), C Greg McKegg (9-14-23), C Mike Cazzola (12-9-21); Owen Sound – RW Bobby Mignardi (16-12-28), C Steven Shipley (6-20-26), LW Garrett Wilson (14-9-23, 5 power-play goals), C Marcus Carroll (13-7-20), D Geoffrey Schemitsch (2-14-16)

Fast facts

Erie – C Mike Cazzola has nine goals and 15 points in his past nine games. He set a career high in goals with two scores on Friday in London. … Torquato extended his point streak to seven straight games with an assist in London. He has points in 12 of his past 13 games (eight goals, 22 points). … McKegg has five-game goal and seven-game point streaks, both career highs (five goals, 13 points). … The Otters split a two-game weekend series at home last month – losing 5-4 in overtime and winning 5-4 in a shootout. … They lost two of three in Owen Sound last season. … D Mitch Gaulton (2-11-13) plays in Owen Sound for the first time since suffering an elbow injury on Oct. 27, 2007, that cost him most of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. … They are 3-6-1-1 on the road. … C/RW Shawn Szydlowski (4-3-7) snapped a four-game scoreless streak with an assist on Friday. … Rookie C Jeremy Gottzmann (tightness in legs) played for the first time since Oct. 24.

Owen Sound – The Attack have allowed an OHL-worst 112 goals this season. … They have been outscored by 32 goals. … They have lost two straight and six of the past 10. … Mignardi ranks among the top 10 in goals and the top 20 in points. … Shipley is tied for seventh in assists. … Wilson and Carroll are in the top 20 in goals. … The Attack are third in the league with 496 penalty minutes. … The Attack are 19^th in the 20-team league on the penalty kill (75.9 percent). … D Curtis Crombeen will join Otters LW David Broll on Team Ontario for next month’s World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Timmins, Ontario.

Up next: vs. Belleville (Thursday, 7 p.m.), at Guelph (Friday. 7:30 p.m.)

LONDON, Ontario – The London Knights were a gracious host to the Erie Otters – until the end.

The Otters erased a pair of two-goal deficits on Friday night. But Jared Knight’s goal 34 seconds into overtime handed the Otters a 5-4 loss in front of a sellout crowd of 9,090 at John Labatt Centre.

The Otters (9-10-3-1) have lost two straight since recording a season-high, four-game winning streak.

But they were one shot away from winning in London for the first time since Dec. 27, 2002 – their first trip to Labatt Centre. Goals from Greg McKegg and Mike Cazzola in the third period, the last with 6 minutes, 39 seconds left, erased Erie’s 4-2 deficit. Cazzola’s first goal of the game also sparked the Otters’ comeback from a 2-0 first-period deficit.

Cazzola and David Shields scored on the power play – two of Erie’s three scores on seven chances with the man advantage. London (15-7-0-1) regained a two-goal lead with short-handed goals from Justin Taylor and Philip McRae 1:09 apart on the same Otters’ power play. The Otters rallied again, only to fall short for the ninth straight time overall against the Knights.

Cazzola finished with two goals and an assist, while McKegg had a goal and two assists. Mitch Gaulton added two assists for the Otters, which are 3-6-1-1 on the road and 1-4 in overtime and shootout games.

Jaroslav Janus allowed all five goals on 34 shots in his second straight loss. Knight led the Knights with two goals. Nazem Kadri had three assists, while Garett Hunter and McRae had two points apiece.

SUMMARY

Knights 5, Otters 4 (OT)

Erie 0 2 2 0 — 4

London 2 2 0 1 — 5

1^st Period — 1. London, Jared Knight 10 (Kadri, McRae), 12:59. 2. London, Garett Hunter 2 (DeSando, Salters), 18:03. Penalties — McNeill (L) checking from behind, 2:38; Cazzola (E) hooking, 7:28; Kadri (L) interference, 13:22; Gaulton (E) holding, 14:31.

2^nd Period — 3. Erie, Mike Cazzola 11 (McKegg, Gaulton), 2:40 (pp). 4. Erie, David Shields 2 (Szydlowski, Luciani), 6:57 (pp). 5. London, Justin Taylor 11 (Kadri, Tarasuk), 12:52 (sh). 6. London, Philip McRae 7 (Hunter, Harrington), 13:43 (sh). Penalties — Martin (L) holding, 2:13; Schinkelshoek (L) hooking, 6:47; Salters (L) hooking, 12:05; Hunter (L) hooking, 17:51.

3^rd Period — 7. Erie, Greg McKegg 9 (Cazzola, Gaulton), 5:19 (pp). 8. Erie, Cazzola 12 (McKegg, Torquato), 13:21. Penalties — MacDonald (L) tripping, 4:13; Gottzmann (E) roughing, 6:45; Yogan (E) elbowing, 6:45; Knight (L) roughing, 6:45.

Overtime — 9. London, Knight 11 (Tarasuk, Kadri), :34. Penalties — None.

Shots on goal — Erie, 13-15-11-0—39; London, 16-8-9-1—34.

Goaltenders — Erie, Jaroslav Janus 3-1-1-0 (34 shots, 29 saves); London, Michael Hutchinson 9-6-0-0 (39 shots, 35 saves).

Power plays — Erie (3-7), London (0-3).

Referees — Mike Pearce, Kevin Blundell. Linesmen — Glenn Anderson, Ryan Lachine.

Attendance — 9,090.

Three stars

* Nazem Kadri, Knights (3 assists) ** Greg McKegg, Otters (goal, 2 assists) *** Garett Hunter, Knights (goal, assist)

Erie Otters rookie David Broll and goaltending prospect Chris Festarini will represent Team Ontario in the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, set for Dec. 29 through Jan. 4 in Timmins, Ontario. Check out the complete roster by clicking the link.

Erie Otters forward Andrew Yogan ranks 10th among OHL skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary rankings for the 2010 draft. Check out the complete lists by clicking on the link. While you’re here, check out the international rankings.

The emotion from Michael Liambas’ sendoff lasted only so long. Windsor made sure of that.

The defending OHL and Memorial Cup champions overcame the Erie Otters’ passionate start to score three goals in the decisive second period of a 5-2 win in front of 4,560 at Tullio Arena Saturday night.

The Spitfires (18-3-0-3) won their fifth straight win and snapped the Otters’ season-high, four-game winning streak. The Otters lost for the first time since Liambas’ suspension. Goaltender Jaroslav Janus lost for the first time in four starts since returning from the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals. The Otters (9-10-2-1) joined Liambas on the ice for his farewell address to the fans before the game. He returns home Sunday to complete a season-long suspension for his hit on Kitchener’s Ben Fanelli Oct. 30.

Then the Otters carried that emotion into the start of the game. Captain Zack Torquato – one of Liambas’ closest friends – scored on assists from Mike Cazzola and Paul Cianfrini 5:43 into the first period.

The Spitfires tied the score at 1-1 less than a minute later on Justin Shugg’s goal. But the Otters capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission despite being outshot 19-8.

Greg McKegg fired Torquato’s cross-ice pass past goaltender Troy Passingham with 6:32 left. The Otters then stopped the Spitfires during a 5-on-3 power play that carried over into the second period.

But the Spitfires continued their offensive barrage against Janus. By the time Windsor winger Greg Nemisz’s power-play goal tied the score at 2-2 at the 7:25 mark, the Spitfires held a 30-8 shot advantage. Three minutes later, Shugg’s second goal on the team’s 36^th shot snapped the tie.

Then Adam Henrique scored Windsor’s third unanswered goal for a 4-2 lead with 2:14 left in the second.

The goal capped a period in which Windsor outshot the Otters 22-1. Erie fired its only shot eight minutes into the period. Shugg completed his hat trick into an empty net in the final period. Windsor outshot the Otters 55-22 overall.

- Victor Fernandes