Anthony Luciani (Contributed/Erie Otters)

The Erie Otters exploded offensively against London in their regular-season finale.

Anthony Luciani led the way in Erie’s regular-season finale with his third OHL hat trick in an 8-3 win against London, played in front of 5,304 at Tullio Arena Saturday night.

Now the Otters (33-28-5-2) will wait until today to learn their opponent in the Western Conference quarterfinals. The Otters (73 points) are tied for seventh with Saginaw, one behind sixth-place Guelph. But the Spirit, which beat Kitchener 3-0 Saturday, have a game in hand – Sunday’s 2 p.m. game at Plymouth.

The Otters need a Spirit loss in regulation to claim the seventh seed and face London, because Erie holds the league’s second tiebreaker over the Spirit – head-to-head record. The Otters swept the four-game season series with the Spirit. The first tiebreaker – most wins – is currently tied at 33 apiece.

If Saginaw earns a point today, the Otters fall to eighth and earn a first-round matchup with Windsor. The Otters cannot finish sixth because of Guelph’s 3-0 win against Owen Sound Saturday. That means the Otters won’t face Midwest Division rival Kitchener in the opening round.

The Otters jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Knights (49-16-1-2), which left leading scorer Nazem Kadri and high-scoring defenseman Steven Tarasuk in London to rest for the start of the playoffs.

Luciani and Brady Austin scored 18 seconds apart for the Otters in the opening two minutes. London responded with two goals in less than 2 minutes midway through the period. But the Knights’ offense, fell silent after that. Meanwhile, the Otters were simply warming up.

The Otters scored the game’s next six goals, including five on 11 shots in the second period.

After Luciani’s second goal capped the scoring in the first, Mitch Gaulton’s goal 3:10 into the second sparked the five-goal onslaught. Luciani completed his third career hat trick – all this season – a minute after Gaulton’s goal. Then Zack Torquato (his career-high 31^st of the season), Shawn Szydlowski and David Broll scored in less than three minutes late in the period to build the Otters’ commanding 8-2 lead.

London finally snapped Erie’s goal-scoring streak on Michael MacDonald’s second goal of the night and 25^th of the season at the 6:07 mark of the third. But the Otters kept London from earning their 50^th win of the season. Luciani, Szydlowski (goal, two assists), Gaulton (goal, two assists) and Mike Cazzola (three assists) had three points apiece for the Otters.

- Victor Fernandes

OHL playoff update

The Otters are tied for seventh in the Western Conference:

(games through Saturday)

No. Team        GL       Record            Pts.

6. x-Guelph     0          35-29-3-1        74

7. x-Saginaw    1          33-27-4-3        73

8. x-Erie           0          33-28-5-2        73

GL – games left; x-clinched playoff berth

* Saginaw plays in Plymouth Sunday at 2 p.m.

Note: Top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs.

GUELPH, Ontario – The Erie Otters might not face Kitchener in the first round after all.

With a 3-2 loss to Guelph, played in front of 4,979 at Sleeman Centre Friday night, the Otters fell to eighth in the Western Conference standings. Erie (32-28-5-2) stands one point behind the sixth-place Storm with one game left – tonight’s regular-season finale against London at Tullio Arena.

The Otters are percentage points behind Saginaw, which has a game in hand. If the OHL playoffs began today, the Otters would face top-seeded Windsor, defending league and Memorial Cup champion, in the opening round. Meanwhile, Guelph (34-29-3-1) would start the playoffs against Kitchener. The Storm head into the postseason on a roll. They have won four straight games and eight of their last 10.

Mathew Sisca’s power-play goal 7 minutes, 2 seconds into the third period snapped a 2-2 tie against the Otters. He scored less than 4 minutes after the Otters’ Greg McKegg scored his 37^th goal of the season.

Zack Torquato assisted on the goal – his Otters’ single-season record 61^st of the season. He broke Colin Pepperall’s mark of 60, set in 1997-98. Derek Holden scored Erie’s other goal.

- Victor Fernandes

Battle for sixth

The Nos. 6-8 seeds in the Western Conference:

(games through Friday)

No. Team        GL       Record            Pts.

6. x-Guelph       1          34-29-3-1          72

7. x-Saginaw     2          32-27-4-3          71

8. x-Erie           1          32-28-5-2          71

GL – games left; x-clinched playoff berth

Note: Top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs.

Sault Ste. Marie ended the Erie Otters‘ hopes of capturing the No. 5 seed in the OHL’s Western Conference playoffs with a 3-2 win against Saginaw Wednesday night. The Otters can finish as high as sixth and as low as eighth.

The Otters enter Friday night’s game in Guelph tied for sixth with the Spirit and three points ahead of No. 8 Guelph. Erie and Saginaw have two games left apiece. The Storm have three games left, starting with Thursday night’s game against Sarnia.

- Victor Fernandes