The Erie Otters had their chance to finally post their sixth win of the season Saturday night.

But a third-period collapse turned a two-goal lead into a 6-4 loss to Midwest Division rival Kitchener in front of 3,232 at Tullio Arena. The Rangers (26-11-1-0) scored four goals in the third, headlined by Matia Marcantuoni’s go-ahead goal with 4 minutes, 32 seconds left in the game.

Cody Sol’s empty-net goal, shot from Kitchener’s zone, sealed a fifth straight loss for the Otters (6-31-1-1). Until the final period, Erie’s OHL-worst offense (97 goals) kept pace with the Rangers’ potent attack in the first period.

Jake Evans opened the scoring 12:39 into the game on a rebound of fellow rookie Sondre Olden’s shot. Kitchener tied it at 1 on Zach Lorentz’s goal with 4:02 left in the period.

The Otters regained the lead at 2-1 on Mike Cazzola’s goal with 2:30 left in the period. Dane Fox assisted on the goal for his first point as an Otter, as did Connor Brown. Then 1:10 later, Ben Fanelli’s rebound beat Otters goaltender Ramis Sadikov to pull the Rangers even at 2-2 heading into the intermission.

But Fox scored his first goal as an Otter – a rebound past goaltender Franky Palazzese 37 seconds into the second period to give the Otters a 3-2 lead. Moments later, a faulty pane of glass prompted a 30-minute delay in which the players warmed up, headed to the dressing room and then warmed up again.

The Otters maintained their one-goal lead after play resumed. Then newly acquired Troy Donnay joined Fox in scoring his first goal with the Otters – and in Donnay’s case, his first OHL goal. The second-year defenseman scored late in a two-man advantage to hand the Otters a 4-2 lead with 6:16 left in the period.

Kitchener sliced Erie’s lead to 4-3, as Marcantuoni redirected Fanelli’s pass past Sadikov 5:57 into the third. Then Radek Faksa turned an errant pass at the Otters’ blue line into the tying short-handed goal with 6:11 left. Marcantuoni snapped the tie less than two minutes later.

Cazzola (goal, two assists) and Fox (goal, assist) paced the Otters while Brown had two assists. Sadikov stopped 32-of-37 shots. Marcantuoni, who was injured late in the game, and Fanelli’s goal and two assists led the Rangers. Sol and Lorentz had a goal and assist apiece. Palazzese finished with 28 saves.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Rangers 6, Otters 4

Kitchener  2  0  4  —  6

Erie  2  2  0  —  4

1^st Period — 1. Erie, Jake Evans 3 (Olden), 12:39. 2. Kitchener, Zach Lorentz 13 (Ming, Fanelli), 15:58. 3. Erie, Mike Cazzola 2 (Brown, Fox), 17:30. 4. Kitchener, Ben Fanelli 2 (Ming, Lorentz), 18:40. Penalties — None.

2^nd Period — 5. Erie, Dane Fox 14 (Glass, Cazzola), :37. 6. Erie, Troy Donnay 1 (Brown, Cazzola), 13:44 (pp). Penalties — Grant (E) hooking, 10:21; Lorentz (K) hooking; 11:51; Murphy (K) unsportsmanlike conduct, 11:51; Betz (E) tripping, 17:34; Sadikov (E) unsportsmanlike conduct (served by Cortellessa), 20:00; Sol (K) unsportsmanlike conduct, 20:00.

3^rd Period — 7. Kitchener, Matia Marcantuoni 8 (Fanelli, Sol), 5:57. 8. Kitchener, Radek Faksa 17 (unassisted), 12:49 (sh). 9. Kitchener, Marcantuoni 9 (Crescenzi, Genovese), 15:28. 10. Kitchener, Cody Sol 8 (unassisted), 19:41 (en). Penalties — McGuire (E) 5-min. fighting, 2:13; Genovese (K) 5-min. fighting, 2:13; Pelech (E) checking from behind, 3:37; Pedersen (K) checking from behind, 11:32.

Shots on goal — Kitchener, 18-8-12—38; Erie, 10-11-11—32.

Goaltenders — Kitchener, Franky Palazzese 12-5-1-0 (32 shots, 28 saves); Erie, Ramis Sadikov 3-13-1-1 (37 shots, 32 saves).

Power plays — Kitchener (0-3), Erie (1-3).

Referees — Dave Gauthier, Jason Faist. Linesmen — Adam Harris, Ryan Holmstead.

Attendance — 3,232.

Three stars

* Matia Marcantuoni, Rangers (2 goals) ** Mike Cazzola, Otters (goal, 2 assists) *** Dane Fox, Otters (goal, assist)

Injury plagued or not, the Erie Otters are scoring goals.

Behind Phil Varone’s hat trick and Greg McKegg’s two goals, the Otters set a season high in goals in a 7-3 win against Kitchener in front of 3,731 at Tullio Arena on Saturday night.

Erie’s offensive onslaught – the most goals scored in a game since the 2009-10 season finale (8 against London), occurred two nights after scoring six goals in a shutout win against Belleville.

Kitchener entered the game with nine wins in the past 10 games. But the surging Otters (12-14-1-0) jumped on the Rangers, as they built a 3-0 lead in the opening 5½ minutes of the opening period on their way to snapping a 10-game losing streak against their Midwest Division rival. The Otters also have their first three-game winning streak since February.

“That was the best game we’ve played,” said Varone, a former Ranger.

Varone scored on assists from Bret Cook and David Broll at the 2:03 to open the scoring. Then McKegg continued his offensive assault with the first of his two straight goals. He fired a rebound of David Shields’ shot past goaltender Brandon Maxwell, a former Otters’ draft pick, for a 2-0 lead.

Fifty-seven seconds later, McKegg scored again – his sixth goal in the past two games – on assists from Shields and Derek Holden for a 3-0 advantage. Ryan Murphy, the league’s highest-scoring defenseman, slipped a shot through goaltender Ramis Sadikov’s pads to move the Rangers within 3-1 with 2:28 left.

The Otters’ lead shrunk to 3-2 just 17 seconds into the second, as Gabriel Landeskog deflected Jonathan Jasper’s shot past Sadikov for Landeskog’s team-leading 20^th goal of the season.

But the Otters responded 1:02 later, as Varone scored his second goal of the game and seventh in 14 games as an Otter, for a 4-2 lead. Then Jeremy Gottzmann scored at the 2:44 mark of the period to regain the Otters’ three-goal lead – his first goal since Feb. 13, a span of 46 games.

Kitchener (17-6-0-1) sliced that lead to 5-3 at the 7:14 mark on Cody Sol’s first goal of the season. Landeskog and Jason Akeson assisted on the goal, with Akeson recording his Ontario Hockey League-leading 36^th assist and 48^th point of the season. But the Otters continued attacking the Rangers’ net.

The Otters finished the second with 25 shots on goal, which tied for the season high (Oct. 22 against Sault Ste. Marie). The teams combined for 39 shots on goal in the middle period. The Otters finished with a season-high 51 shots.

Early in the third, Matthew Paton, who assisted on Gottzmann’s goal, snapped a 16-game goal drought to hand the Otters a 6-3 lead. Jordan Coccimiglio earned his second assist of the game on the play.

Then Varone completed the first three-goal outing in his five-year OHL career – and the team’s second in two games (McKegg) with a power-play goal on assists from McKegg and Luciani 7:43 into the period. Varone and McKegg were the first Otters’ teammates with hat tricks in consecutive games since Justin Hodgman (Dec. 20 vs. Sudbury) and Andrew Yogan (Dec. 28 at Brampton).

Varone and McKegg, who also had an assist, led the Otters’ offense. Shields, Luciani and Coccimiglio had two assists apiece. Paton (goal, assist) also had two points.

“When (role players) chip in,” McKegg said, “you know you’re going to have a good night.”

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Otters 7, Rangers 3

Kitchener  1  2  0  —  3

Erie  3  2  2  —  7

1^st Period — 1. Erie, Phil Varone 6 (Cook, Broll), 2:03. 2. Erie, Greg McKegg 19 (Shields, Szydlowski), 4:26. 3. Erie, McKegg 20 (Shields, Holden), 5:23. 4. Kitchener, Ryan Murphy 13 (Maxwell), 17:32. Penalties — Lowry (K) interference, 15:13.

2^nd Period — 5. Kitchener, Gabriel Landeskog 20 (Jasper, Catenacci), :17. 6. Erie, Varone 7 (Luciani), 1:19. 7. Erie, Jeremy Gottzmann 1 (Paton, Coccimiglio), 2:44. 8. Kitchener, Cody Sol 1 (Landeskog, Akeson), 7:14. Penalties — Broll (E) 5-min. fighting, 2:47; Randell (K) 5-min. fighting, 2:47; Gazdic (E) 5-min. fighting, 6:00; Thomson (K) 5-min. fighting, 6:00; Szydlowski (E) elbowing, 13:39; Randell (K) interference, 15:10.

3^rd Period — 9. Erie, Matthew Paton 4 (Coccimiglio, Grant), 4:47. 10. Erie, Varone 8 (McKegg, Luciani), 7:43 (pp). Penalties — Crescenzi (K) checking to the head, 6:26; Austin (E) tripping, 10:39.

Shots on goal — Kitchener, 11-14-15—40; Erie, 12-25-15—51.

Goaltenders — Kitchener, Brandon Maxwell 12-5-0-0 (51 shots, 44 saves); Erie, Ramis Sadikov 12-10-1-0 (40 shots, 37 saves).

Power plays — Kitchener (0-2), Erie (1-3).

Referees — Darcy Burchell, Dave Gauthier. Linesmen — Daryl Wolfe, Mike Harrington.

Attendance — 3,731.

Three stars

* Phil Varone, Otters (hat trick) ** Greg McKegg, Otters (2 goals, assist) *** David Shields, Otters (2 assists)