BELLEVILLE, Ontario – The OHL’s lowest-scoring offense took control from the outset Monday. Then the league’s worst defense, led by overage goaltender Ramis Sadikov, took over from there.

The Erie Otters produced a rare all-around effort against Belleville. That allowed the Otters to salvage the final game of a three-game East Division trip with a 4-1 win in front of 3,276 fans at Yardmen Arena.

The Otters (9-42-3-2) received goals from Sondre Olden, Connor Brown and Kris Grant in a 1-minute, 16-second stretch early in the first period to take a 3-0 lead against Malcolm Subban, the top-rated North American goaltender on NHL Central Scouting’s midseason ranking for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Olden scored again with 3:24 left in the second to take a 4-0 lead. Along the way, a defense that has allowed 264 goals held the Bulls off the scoreboard until Jake Worrad’s goal with 3:17 left in the game.

Sadikov sparked the defense with 41 saves. Brown led the Otters with his 20^th goal of the season and an assist. Grant scored his first goal since Dec. 10, 2010 – a span of 66 games. Erie, which snapped a two-game losing streak with their third straight win in Belleville, returns to action at Tullio Arena Friday at 7 p.m. against Sault Ste. Marie and Saturday against Kingston. The Bulls fell to 27-28-1-0.

SUMMARY

Otters 4, Bulls 1

Erie  3  1  0  —  4

Belleville  0  0  1  —  1

1^st Period — 1. Erie, Sondre Olden 8 (Glass, Betz), 8:09. 2. Erie, Connor Brown 20 (Fox, McDowell), 8:55. 3. Erie, Kris Grant 1 (Brown), 9:25. Penalties — Simmonds (B) tripping, 1:42.

2^nd Period — 4. Erie, Olden 9 (Eisenberg), 16:36. Penalties — Cortellessa (E) hooking, 1:11; Hooey (B) tripping, 13:39; McDowell (E) roughing, 19:03; Judson (B) roughing, 19:03.

3^rd Period — 5. Belleville, Jake Worrad 4 (Carnevale, Silas), 16:43. Penalties — Fox (E) cross checking, 4:21; Erie, too many men (served by Olden), 5:31; Corson (B) tripping, 12:19.

Shots on goal — Erie, 20-9-4—33; Belleville, 13-12-17—42.

Goaltenders — Erie, Ramis Sadikov 5-20-3-1 (42 shots, 41 saves); Belleville, Malcolm Subban 17-10-0-0 (33 shots, 29 saves).

Power plays — Erie (0-3), Belleville (0-3).

Referees — Dave Koziel, Garrett Rank. Linesmen — Chad Drown, Mike Hamilton.

Attendance — 3,276.

Three stars

* Ramis Sadikov, Otters (41 saves) ** Sondre Olden, Otters (2 goals) *** Connor Brown, Otters (goal, assist)