Erie Otters winger Stephen Harper stood 128th among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, which was released Wednesday. Harper, 18, slid 90 spots down the list after being picked 38th in the midterm rankings released in January. He had 18 goals and 38 points in 67 games this season after totaling 24 goals and 35 points in 63 games as a rookie in the 2011-12 OHL season.
Otters winger Nick Betz, 17, doesn’t appear in the final rankings after standing 106th among North American skaters on the midterm list. He had four goals and 12 points in 44 games this season. He missed two months of the season’s opening half recovering from an appendectomy.
Defenseman Seth Jones (Portland, WHL) and goaltender Zachary Fucale (Halifax, QMJHL) top the list among North American skaters and goaltenders, respectively. Sault Ste. Marie defenseman Darnell Nurse and Ottawa center Sean Monahan rank among the top five skaters, while Mississauga’s Spencer Martin ranks fifth among goaltenders. The Finnish-born duo of Aleksander Barkov and Juuse Saros top the list of European skaters and goaltenders, respectively. The NHL Entry Draft is set for June 30 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Erie Otters rookie goaltender Oscar Dansk has played nine periods of hockey in the past two months.
They haven’t been his finest work. Dansk, who missed time midway through the season while sitting the bench for his native Sweden at the IIHF World Junior Championship and the past month with a concussion, continues to struggle from his lack of consistent playing time.
He surrendered six goals on his opening 20 shots in his first game back from the injury, a 6-3 loss to Niagara in front of 2,051 fans at Erie Insurance Arena Wednesday night. Add that to rough outings in three games a month ago, and he has allowed 16 goals on his last 106 shots.
The IceDogs, namely their dangerous No. 1 line of Ryan Strome (two goals, assist), Brett Ritchie (three assists) and Steven Shipley (two assists), capitalized on Dansk’s early struggles. The didn’t help much, as the Otters (16-31-3-5) were overwhelmed by that trio on home ice for the second time this month on the way to their ninth loss in 10 games. That line combined for two goals and eight points after totals four goals and eight points in a 5-1 win Feb. 1.
Strome opened the scoring by slipping through the Otters’ defense to turn Ritchie’s pass into his 30th goal of the season 7 minutes, 23 seconds into the game. Then Ritchie found Shayne Rover at the point for a shot through a screen less than three minutes later. The IceDogs capped the period with 24.1 seconds left, as Strome found Trevor Petersen for a quick wrist shot over Dansk’s shoulder.
The Otters scored twice in a 1:12 span early in the second to slice the IceDogs’ lead to 3-2. J.P. Labardo turned a steal inside Niagara’s zone into his 19th goal of the season. Then Nick Betz slipped out of the corner and lifted a backhand over former Otters goaltender Chris Festarini to move the Otters within a goal. But that was the highlight for an offense that managed only 18 shots on goal.
The IceDogs ended the middle period with a three-goal onslaught to put the game away.
Labardo led the Otters with a goal and assist. Connor McDavid scored his 23rd goal of the season. Rover had a goal and two assists for the IceDogs. … Any combination of Otters losses and Saginaw wins totaling nine points officially will eliminate the Otters from playoff contention. The Otters have lost five straight home games by a combined 27-9 score.

Upcoming schedule
Today - vs. Owen Sound, 7 p.m. at Erie Insurance Arena
Saturday - vs. Owen Sound, 7 p.m. at Erie Insurance Arena
Sunday - at Mississauga, 2 p.m.
On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)
What to expect: The Otters (4-8-1-2) complete a six-game home stand after losing three of the first four games (1-2-0-1). … They are tied with Ottawa (4-8-0-2) and Peterborough (4-7-2-1) for the fewest wins in the OHL. … The Otters are fourth in the league on the power play (25.8 percent), but they have slipped to 11th on the penalty kill (77.9 percent). … RW Nick Betz (appendicitis – out at least six to eight weeks) joined C Dane Fox (broken left foot) on the injured list last week. … Fox should have the cast removed from his foot next week before undergoing two to three weeks of physical therapy. GM Sherry Bassin said he hopes Fox can make his season debut later this month. … D Adam Pelech (bruised left ankle) returned to the ice Tuesday. … C Connor McDavid leads all OHL rookies with 18 points and is tied for the lead with seven goals. He has points in 14 straight games and in 14 of the first 15 games of his OHL career. … The Attack (10-2-0-2) have the league’s best winning percentage (.786) and goal differential (50 goals scored, 32 goals against). … They are second in scoring defense. … C Cameron Brace is tied for second in the league with 12 goals …. Brace and C Daniel Catenacci join McDavid among the top 20 scorers with 18 points apiece. … G Jordan Binnington leads the league with a 1.96 goals-againsty average and a. .940 save percentage. He’s also tied for second with nine wins.

- Victor Fernandes

A weekend that began with such promise ended with a thud for the Erie Otters Saturday night.
Unlike their strong efforts in a convincing six-goal win against Saginaw Wednesday night and a shootout loss to Sault Ste. Marie Friday night, the Otters had little energy in a 5-2 loss to Sarnia in front of 2,648 fans at Erie Insurance Arena Saturday night.
Rookie center Connor McDavid had a goal and assist for the Otters (4-8-1-2), which dropped their second straight game and finished the three-game weekend series at home 1-1-0-1. McDavid, who extended his point streak to 14 straight games and has 18 points in 15 games, was one of the lone bright spots for a team that struggled to find consistency against the Sting (7-6-0-1).
The Otters entered the game with the OHL’s seventh-ranked penalty kill at 82.5 percent. But Sarnia’s third-rated power play burned the Otters for four goals on five chances in the game. Craig Duininck, who had one goal in his first 12 games, scored the first of his two power-play goals on assists from Nikolay Goldobin and Anthony DeAngelo 9 minutes, 47 seconds into the opening period.
Goaltender Oscar Dansk made several key stops, especially in close, to keep the Otters within a goal until Charles Sarault netted his sixth goal of the season, a power-play score 10:04 into the second period, to extend the Sting’s lead to 2-0. Sarnia’s lead reached 3-0 less than two minutes later, as Duininck scored his second goal of the night on assists from Goldobin and Bryan Moore.
The Otters crept within 3-1 on Connor Crisp’s sixth goal of the season – a loose puck in front that he slipped past Sting goaltender J.P. Anderson – with 1:45 left in the period. Moments later, Otters defenseman Adam Pelech was helped to the dressing room with a left ankle injury suffered while blocking a shot. Club officials believe Pelech suffered only a bruise, but he was expected to undergo x-rays. Pelech, who was hit with a shot on the same ankle in Friday’s game was seen walking gingerly outside the dressing room after the game. The Otters learned before the game that winger Nick Betz will miss at least the next six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery Friday night for a ruptured appendix.
Then any momentum the Otters gained from Crisp’s goal vanished 53 seconds into the third period, as the Sting regained a three-goal lead at 4-1 on Reid Boucher‘s goal. McDavid provided a bit of a spark, as his steal in front of the Sting’s net and two nifty moves through traffic produced his seventh goal of the season and moved the Otters within 4-2 with 10:12 left in the game.
But Goldobin’s shot into an open net – Sarnia’s fourth power-play goal in five chances – with 1:30 left sealed the Sting’s win.

- Victor Fernandes

Erie Otters winger Nick Betz had a 103-degree temperature Wednesday night. So club officials initially thought he had the flu.
However, his condition was much worse. Betz underwent emergency surgery Friday night for a ruptured appendix, Sherry Bassin, Otters managing partner and general manager, confirmed before Saturday night’s game against the Sarnia Sting at Erie Insurance Arena. Betz will miss a minimum of six to eight weeks, Bassin said, because the surgeons “had to cut him open.”
The absence of Betz leaves a sizeable hole in the Otters’ lineup. Betz, a 6-foot 5-inch, 210-pounder from Clinton Township, Mich., had been playing alongside Jake Evans and Stephen Harper on the No. 2 line this season. Second-year winger Travis Wood, a converted defenseman, has moved up on the second line after starting the season on the fourth line. The Otters already are without frontline center Dane Fox, who hasn’t played in a game this season because he’s recovering from surgery on a broken bone in his left foot.
“It seems to be that time of year,” said Bassin, referring to his club’s rash of serious injuries to key players the past few years. “We should be expecting it. It seems to happen so often.” Betz, who joins Harper and Fox on NHL Central Scouting’s watch list of prospects for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, has two goals, five points and nine penalty minutes in 11 games after totaling five goals, 14 points and 45 penalty minutes in 61 games as a rookie a season ago.

- Victor Fernandes

Erie Youth Hockey Association’s adult league holds its fifth annual “Pink at the Rink” fundraiser Sunday at Ice Center of Erie, 3515 McClelland Avenue. The event, which raises funds and awareness in the battle against breast cancer, features five games starting at 4:30. But first, the Erie Otters will take the ice – at least some of them will, anyway.
Rookie sensation Connor McDavid will join teammates Nick Betz, Jake Evans, Stephen Harper, Hayden Hodgson and Devin Williams in a special “Skate with the Otters” from 3:15-4:15 p.m. There’s also talk of an appearance from Ryan O’Reilly, a former Otters captain and current NHL player, although event organizers haven’t received confirmation on that yet.
Cost to skate is $5, but admission to the games are free. Representatives from Dove Chocolate Discoveries, Tastefully Simple, Scentsy and Crocheted Critters & More by Christina Burns will be in attendance. The event also will include a Chinese auction and merchandise for sale.
“Pink at the Rink” has raised more than $8,500 for the American Cancer Society in the past four years.

The shootout already had ventured into the ninth round. Yet Erie Otters goaltender Oscar Dansk wanted it to last longer.
After eight failed attempts, Dansk hoped to give his teammates another chance against London Saturday night at Erie Insurance Arena. But Knights rookie Kyle Platzer scored the only goal of the nine-round marathon to hand the Otters a 4-3 loss in front of 2,667 fans.
The Otters (2-3-1-1) settled for one point and three out of four during their two-game weekend homestand. Meanwhile, the Knights (4-2-0-0) earned their second straight win despite squandering a two-goal, second-period lead. Dansk finished with 19 saves on 22 shots in regulation and overtime before his stellar effort in the shootout. His counterpart, Kevin Bailie, had 26 saves on 29 shots through 65 minutes of action and several more quality saves in the shootout.
No. 1 pick Connor McDavid, Connor Brown and Stephen Harper scored for the Otters. Brown added an assist for a two-point outing.
Seth Griffith and Bo Horvat had a goal and assist apiece for the Knights, while Max Domi added a goal.
McDavid continued his impressive start to his rookie season by scoring 1 minute, 55 seconds into the opening period – his third goal in two nights and fourth goal in seven games. He slid past the Knights’ defense and slipped a shot past Bailie to hand the Otters a 1-0 lead. But that lead didn’t last long, as Domi tied the score at 1 at the 6:23 mark with his fourth goal of the season.
Domi escaped a crowd of defenders behind the Otters’ net and squeezed a shot between the right post and Dansk’s left pad. Then Griffith, who burned the Otters for three goals in an 8-2 Knights’ win in London Sept. 21, scored his seventh goal in six games to snap the 1-1 tie with 8:28 left in the period. Griffth tied Oshawa’s Boone Jenner for the OHL lead in goals.
The Otters dominated at the start of the second. They held the Knights without a shot on goal for nearly eight minutes. Meanwhile, the Otters’ offense generated several quality scoring opportunities. Yet while Bailie stymied the Otters, including key saves in close on Johnny McGuire and Luke Cairns, Bo Horvat scored on the Knights’ first shot of the period to build a 3-1 lead at the 7:56 mark.
But the Otters converted their first power play of the game, as Brown turned a fortunate bounce off a defender in front of the net into his fourth goal of the season. His rebound to Bailie’s left with 2:48 left in the period sent the Otters into the third trailing 3-2.
Then the Otters capitalized on their second power play of the game 9:27 into the third to complete the comeback. After Nick Betz stole the puck from a Knights defender, linemate Jake Evans found Harper in front for his fourth goal of the season.
Harper appeared to give the Otters a 4-3 lead on a power play late in regulation. But the officials whistled the play dead for offsides, a call Harper disagreed with but Otters coach Robbie Ftorek defended. Scott Harrington nearly sealed the Knights’ win in overtime, but his shot from the point glanced off the post and into the ground. Then the Otters killed off a power play in the final 1:32 of the extra period, sending the game into the shootout. But the Otters couldn’t beat Bailie, while Platzer slipped a shot through Dansk’s pads
* News and notes: Head coach Dan Bylsma and former forward Bill Guerin headlined a group of Pittsburgh Penguins officials at the game. Knights defensemen Harrington and Olli Maatta are Penguins prospects. … Scott Howson, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ executive vice president of hockey operations and general manager, attended both games this weekend to watch Dansk, the NHL club’s second-round draft pick this past June. … The Otters scratched Anthony Cortellessa (flu) and Dane Fox (broken foot). Liam Maaskant, Justin Felker and Mitch Eisenberg were healthy scratches. Maaskant and Eisenberg haven’t dressed for a game this season.

- Victor Fernandes

PETERBOROUGH, Ontario – The Erie Otters handed rookie goaltender Oscar Dansk an early three-goal lead Thursday night.
Then Dansk took care of the rest with a stellar 47-save effort in the Otters’ first win of the season, 5-1 against Peterborough in front of 2,344 at Peterborough Memorial Centre. The Otters (1-2-0-0) won despite being outshot 48-30.
Stephen Harper and Connor McDavid, the Otters’ last two first-round picks in the OHL Priority Selection, sparked Erie’s surge to a 3-0 lead. McDavid set up both of Harper’s goals in a span of four minutes midway through the period, and then Jake Evans scored his first goal of the season with 6:46 left in the period. McDavid has a goal and four points in his first three games.
That was more than enough offensive support for Dansk. He rebounded from a rocky debut last weekend, as he allowed 11 goals in losses at Niagara and London. But against the Petes (1-2-0-0), he overcame a barrage of shots – 16 in the second and 29 through two periods – to keep his shutout intact. The Petes recorded 15 of the first 16 shots in the second and had four straight power plays, including a pair of two-man advantages that lasted nearly two minutes. Peterborough finished 0-for-8 on the power play. In contrast, the Otters were 1-for-3.
Yet while Dansk kept the Petes off the scoreboard, the Otters built a 4-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the period on Nick Betz‘s second goal of the season. Dansk’s bid for his first OHL shutout ended on Trevor Murphy’s goal 2:53 into the third.
But Dansk finished with 18 saves on 19 shots in the period. Travis Wood capped the scoring with his first goal of the season in the final minute. Rookie Hayden Hodgson had an assist for his first OHL point, while Nathan Glass added the last of his two assists. Evans added an assist to his goal for the Otters, which travel to Kingston today for a 7 p.m. game.

ST. CATHARINES, Ontario – As expected, the Erie Otters are a work in progress.
Highly touted No. 1 pick Connor McDavid will fill the stat sheet in the 2012-13 season. New goaltender Oscar Dansk will make enough key saves in net. And the Otters will produce more consistent efforts. But a defeat on opening night still hurts.
“Losing is something that doesn’t sit well for me,” said McDavid, who had opportunities for several assists but settled for a scoreless outing in his OHL debut – a 4-2 loss to Niagara in front of 3,145 at Gatorade Garden City Complex Thursday night.
Dansk produced a respectable effort – 26 saves on 30 shots – in his first OHL game.
Dansk and the Otters withstood an early offensive flurry from the IceDogs (1-0-0-0). But after former Otters goaltender Chris Festarini fired the puck over the boards for a delay of game penalty, the Otters capitalized on a two-man advantage to take a 1-0 lead 8:02 into the first period. Connor Crisp, who missed nearly all of the 2011-12 season following shoulder surgery, scored off a deflection in front for his first goal since March 17, 2011.
Dansk wasn’t able to stop Steven Shipley‘s shot in close, which tied the score at 1 on the power play with 6:03 left in the period. But the Otters regained the lead at 2-1 just 1:06 later, as Nick Betz pushed a rebound past Festarini. The IceDogs recorded the first nine shots, including rookie David Sysala‘s first career goal off 6:44 into the period that tied the score at 2.
Anthony DiFruscia‘s first OHL goal handed the IceDogs their first lead at 3-2 at the 4:34 mark. Then Joel Wigle‘s bad-angle shot slipped between Dansk and the right post for a 4-2 IceDogs lead with 9:32 left.

- Victor Fernandes

ST. CATHARINES, Ontario – The Erie Otters mounted a comeback with four goals in the third period Thursday night.
But that outburst wasn’t enough to overcome Niagara’s scoring barrage throughout the Otters’ 7-4 preseason loss at Gatorade Garden City Complex. The Otters also allowed seven goals in a preseason loss to Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL) last weekend.
The IceDogs scored three goals in the first period and one more in the second to build a 4-0 lead.
Ryan Strome scored early in the third to hand the IceDogs a 5-0 lead before Anthony Cortellessa and Nick Betz scored off rebounds to move the Otters within 5-2. Derek Todosichuk regained Niagara’s four-goal lead at 6-2. Then Luke Cairns scored the first of his two goals to pull the Otters within three again at 6-3. Strome capped his five-point outing with his second goal, and Cairns completed his three-point night, in the game’s final minutes.
Connor Brown had two assists and Cortellessa added a goal and assist for the Otters, which fell to 1-2 in the preseason heading into the finale against Owen Sound Sunday at 2 p.m. in Elmira, Ontario. Travis Wood and Stephen Harper also had an assist apiece. Keinan Brown allowed all seven goals for the Otters. Anthony DiFruscia had two goals for the IceDogs.