Check out where former Erie Otters forward Jeremy Gottzmann is playing now.

The Erie Otters handed the Peterborough Petes a win Friday night.

The Petes, which entered the game 20 games below the .500 mark, scored late to post a 6-5 win in front of 3,229 at Tullio Arena Friday night.

Austin Watson scored his 30^th goal of the season off a goal-mouth scramble with 47.4 seconds left to snap a 5-5 tie and end the Otters’ eight-game home winning streak.

The Otters (32-26-1-1) jumped on the Petes early, as captain Greg McKegg sealed his first 40-goal season by scoring off assists from Mike Cazzola and Shawn Szydlowski 1:42 into the opening period.

Yet the Otters squandered several scoring chances as the period progressed, including Phil Varone’s miss on a penalty shot with 8:33 left in the period. They also failed to capitalize on a power play in the period.

Moments after the penalty expired, Petes rookie Lino Martschini scored his 17^th goal of the season off a 2-on-1 rush to tie the score at 1 with 2:11 left in the period.

The Otters started the second period strong as well. Anthony Luciani turned a cross-ice pass from Varone into his 25^th goal of the season and a 2-1 lead 43 seconds into the period. But a fortunate bounce allowed the Petes to tie the score at 2 four minutes later. Petes winger Zach Tatrn’s cross-crease pass deflected off Otters forward Shawn Szydlowski’s skate and past rookie goaltender Chris Festarini.

Then at the 8:06 mark, Kalle Ekelund scored for a 3-2 Petes’ lead. Festarini, who started in place of injured Ramis Sadikov (leg) for the second straight night, allowed both second-period goals on four shots.

Watson followed with a goal on an assist from former Otter Jeremy Gottzmann for a 4-2 lead with 7:47 left in the period. Alan Quine’s goal 1:10 later ended Festarini’s night after five goals on 14 shots, including four on seven second-period shots. Rookie call-up Adam Wood replaced him in net.

The frustrated crowd cheered when Wood stopped a slow rolling puck his way. The crowd awakened on Varone’s 29^th goal of the season, scored 22 seconds after Quine’s goal. Then a big hit from Otters defenseman Brett Cook, which led to Petes rookie Slater Koekkoek’s instigator penalty, led to a late power play. The Otters capitalized on the chance, as Szydlowski scored his 36^th goal of the season on an assist from Varone with 15 seconds left in the period to send the Otters into the third down 5-4.

The Petes didn’t record a shot on goal after Wood entered the game with 6:37 left in the second.

Meanwhile, the Otters capped the three-goal comeback to a 5-5 tie on Luciani’s power-play score, his second goal of the night, on assists from Thompson and rookie Luke Cairns 2:46 into the third.

But Watson poked a loose puck past Wood, the last of seven shots against, to seal the Petes’ win.

Austin (two goals), Quine (goal, assist) and Gottzmann (two assists) led the Petes (19-38-1-1). Varone (goal, two assists) had three points for the Otters. Luciani (two goals), Szydlowski (goal, assist), Thompson (two assists) and Cazzola (two assists) had two points apiece.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Petes 6, Otters 5

Peterborough  1  4  1  —  6

Erie  1  3  1  —  5

1^st Period — 1. Erie, Greg McKegg 40 (Cazzola, Szydlowski), 1:42. 2. Peterborough, Lino Martschini 17 (Trecapelli), 17:49. Penalties — Szydlowski (E) boarding, 10:12; Trecapelli (P) hooking, 15:32. Penalty shot — Varone (E) no good, 11:27.

2^nd Period — 3. Erie, Anthony Luciani 25 (Varone, Thompson), :43. 4. Peterborough, Zach Tatrn 5 (unassisted), 4:56. 5. Peterborough, Kalle Ekelund 8 (Quine, Walchessen), 8:06. 6. Peterborough, Austin Watson 29 (Gottzmann), 12:13. 7. Peterborough, Alan Quine 24 (Walchessen), 13:23. 8. Erie, Phil Varone 29 (Austin), 13:45. 9. Erie, Shawn Szydlowski 36 (Varone, Cazzola), 19:45 (pp). Penalties — Austin (E) tripping, 16:33; Ekelund (P) slashing, 16:43; Walchessen (P) hooking, 17:54; Shields (E) diving, 17:54; Koekkoek (P) instigator, 19:37; Cook (E) 5-min. fighting, 19:37; Koekkoek (P) 5-min. fighting, 19:37; Koekkoek (P) 10-min. misconduct, 19:37.

3^rd Period — 10. Erie, Luciani 26 (Thompson, Cairns), 2:46 (pp). 11. Peterborough, Watson 30 (Walchessen, Gottzmann), 19:12. Penalties — Watson (P) tripping, 2:39; Appio (E) 5-min. fighting, 10:31; Murduff (P) 5-min. fighting, 10:31; Bezruchko (P) slashing, 15:09; Szydlowski (E) roughing, 17:05; Walchessen (P) interference, 19:55.

Shots on goal — Peterborough, 7-7-9—23; Erie, 10-15-11—36.

Goaltenders — Peterborough, Bryce O’Hagan 10-19-1-0 (36 shots, 31 saves); Erie, Chris Festarini (14 shots, 9 saves), Adam Wood 0-1-0-0 (9 shots, 8 saves).

Power plays — Peterborough (0-3), Erie (2-6).

Referees — Joe Celestin, Jason Faist. Linesmen — Kevin Hastings, Ben Wilson.

Attendance — 3,229.

Three stars

* Anthony Luciani, Otters (2 goals) ** Austin Watson, Petes (2 goals) *** Phil Varone, Otters (goal, 2 assists)

What: Peterborough Petes (18-38-1-1) at Erie Otters (32-25-1-1)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Tullio Arena

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

Players to watch

Erie – C Greg McKegg (38 goals, 39 assists, 77 points), C Brett Thompson (40-32-72), C Phil Varone (28-40-68), RW Shawn Szydlowski (35-30-65), RW Anthony Luciani (24-41-65)

Peterborough – C Austin Watson (28-28-56), RW Lino Martschini (16-34-50), C Alan Quine (23-24-47), D Kalle Ekelund (7-32-39), C Jeremy Gottzmann (3-9-12)

Fast facts

Erie – The Otters have won seven of nine and 12 of their last 17 games despite Thursday’s loss at Niagara. … They are 7-2 in February. … The Otters can set a franchise record for consecutive home wins with a victory tonight. The streak stands at eight straight games, which is tied with the 2000-01 team (twice) and the 2004-05 team. … G Ramis Sadikov (32-17-1-1 record, 2.85 goals-against average, .913 save percentage, 2 shutouts) missed the loss to the IceDogs with a leg injury. But as of Thursday, he hadn’t been ruled out of tonight’s game or Saturday’s home game against Kitchener. … … Thompson’s streak of consecutive games with a goal ended at eight Thursday, one shy of the franchise mark set by Brad Boyes from Nov. 4-25, 2000 and one shy of the OHL’s season high set by Sault Ste. Marie C Daniel Catenacci from Nov. 12-Dec. 5. … Thompson extended his point streak to nine games (12 goals, 20 points) with an assist against the IceDogs. … Varone’s career-high point streak ended at 16 games Thursday. … Szydlowski has points in 16 of his last 17 games (15 goals, 28 points). …Luciani has points in 10 of his last 12 games (seven goals, 23 points). … F Andrew Yogan has no points and a minus-3 rating in his first two games of the season.

Peterborough – LW Matt Puempel, the team’s leading scorer with 34 goals and 69 points, is expected to miss the rest of the season with a hip injury, The Peterborough Examiner reported Thursday. … Gottzmann faces his former team for the first time since being traded Jan. 10. He has two goals and six points in 18 games with the Petes. … The Petes, who have lost seven of their last 10 games, are tied with Belleville for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls have a game in hand. … The Petes rank near the bottom of the league in goals scored (168) and goals against (252). … Martschini is tied for fifth among rookie scorers.

Up next: vs. Kitchener (Saturday, 7 p.m.), vs. Niagara (Wednesday, 7 p.m.)

– Victor Fernandes

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)

The Erie Otters made two more cuts on Tuesday: forwards Erik Robichaud and Ralph Cuddemi. That leaves the club with 28 players on the roster.

FORWARDS (16)
Brett Appio
David Broll
Luke Cairns
Michael Cazzola
Jordan Coccimiglio
Connor Crisp
Jeremy Gottzmann
Anthony Luciani
Chris Marchese
Macaulay McDonnell
Greg McKegg
Scott Mitchell
Matthew Paton
Shawn Szydlowski
Timofey Tankeev
Andrew Yogan

DEFENSEMEN (10)
Evan Accettura
Brady Austin
Brett Cook
Mitch Gaulton
Kris Grant
Derek Holden
Adam Pelech
Mark Gazdic
Tyler Hostetter
David Shields

GOALTENDERS (2)
Chris Festarini
Ramis Sadikov

Erie Otters center Jeremy Gottzmann used the same Twist Conditioning program that helped him prepare for his rookie season in 2009-10.

But this time, the program, created by highly regarded personal trainer Peter Twist (whose top clients include the Vancouver Canucks‘ Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik), was modified to help Gottzmann overcame the nagging leg problems that hampered him last season.

He has added stretching, swimming and biking to his weekly routine, which includes five off-ice sessions and four on-ice sessions and focuses on speed, agility, quickness, strength and power. These workouts have relieved the tightness that he encountered last season.

“My legs are in top shape right now,” he said. “I’m going to be able to skate a lot faster this year.”

- Victor Fernandes