Rookie goaltender Devin Williams deserved a better outcome Wednesday night.

He stopped 33-of-34 shots in the opening 65 minutes and four more in a six-round shootout in his third career OHL start. Yet the Erie Otters still lost to Owen Sound 2-1 in front of 2,135 at Tullio Arena.

Daniel Catenacci, who scored the Attack’s lone goal in the second period, slipped a wrist shot past Williams on the game’s final attempt to hand the Otters (7-38-3-2) their second straight defeat.

“He’s got a great temperament,” Otters coach Robbie Ftorek said of Williams. “He just goes about his business. The guys play hard in front of him. Too bad we couldn’t get that (win) for him.”

Stephen Harper erased the Attack’s early 1-0 lead in the shootout with a goal in the second round. The rookie winger’s tying goal 3 minutes, 27 seconds into the third period forced overtime and the shootout.

Williams and Attack veteran Jordan Binnington traded saves in the next three rounds. Then Binnington began the final round by stopping rookie Travis Wood. Catenacci followed with the decisive goal.

Ftorek also called upon Dane Fox, Luke Cairns and rookies Connor Brown and Mitchell Eisenberg. Sondre Olden, one of the team’s best offensive performers, surprisingly wasn’t involved in the shootout. When asked about that, Ftorek said he believed the players he used “were going to score for us.”

* News and notes: Anthony Cortellessa (sore back muscle) rejoined the Otters’ lineup after missing both games last weekend. … Liam Maaskant was a healthy scratch while fellow Wood stepped in on defense.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Attack 2, Otters 1

Owen Sound  0  1  0  0  1  —  2

Erie  0  0  1  0  0  —  1

1^st Period — None. Penalties — McGuire (E) 5-min. fighting, :07; Zweep (O) 5-min. fighting, :07; McGuire (E) game misconduct, :07; Zweep (O) game misconduct, :07; Eisenberg (E) tripping, 2:40; Harper (E) tripping, 17:36; Bigras (O) hooking, 18:42.

2^nd Period — 1. Owen Sound, Daniel Catenacci 26 (Gavrus, Halmo), 17:14 (pp). Penalties — Hope (O) delay of game, 2:56; Williams (E) delay of game (served by Betz), 4:15; Cutting (O) cross checking, 9:58; Donnay (E) 5-min. fighting, 12:59; Gabriel (O) 5-min. fighting, 12:59; Fox (E) instigating, 16:53; Fox (E) 5-min. fighting, 16:53; Dotchin (O) 5-min. fighting, 16:53; Fox (E) 10-min. misconduct, 16:53; Rose (O) tripping, 18:36.

3^rd Period — 2. Erie, Stephen Harper 17 (Betz, Evans), 3:27. Penalties — Cortellessa (E) 5-min. fighting, 7:37; Blandisi (O) 5-min. fighting, 7:37.

Overtime — None. Penalties — None.

Shootout — Fox (E) no goal; Gavrus (O) goal; Harper (E) goal; Blandisi (O) no goal; Eisenberg (E) no goal; Bigras (O) no goal; Cairns (E) no goal; Brace (O) no goal; Brown (E) no goal; Rose (O) no goal; Wood (E) no goal; Catenacci (O) goal.

Shots on goal — Owen Sound, 9-8-14-3-1—35; Erie, 8-8-11-3-0—30.

Goaltenders — Owen Sound, Jordan Binnington 15-13-0-1 (30 shots, 29 saves); Erie, Devin Williams 1-1-0-1 (34 shots, 33 saves).

Power plays — Owen Sound (1-4), Erie (0-4).

Referees — Mike Cairns, Chris Carnegie. Linesmen — R.J. King, Daryl Wolfe.

Attendance — 2,135.

Three stars

* Jordan Binnington, Attack (29 saves, 5 SO saves) ** Devin Williams, Otters (33 saves, 4 SO saves) *** Stephen Harper, Otters (goal, SO goal)

BARRIE, Ontario – The Erie Otters will begin 2012 with a three-game losing streak.

Barrie scored twice in the third period to snap a tie and hand the Otters a 5-3 loss in front of a New Year’s Eve crowd of 4,276 at Barrie Molson Centre.

Colin Behenna’s goal 9 minutes, 11 seconds into the third handed the Colts (21-13-2-1) a 4-3 lead. Eric Locke’s goal with 7:45 left extended the lead to 5-3.

Barrie then stymied the Otters (5-30-1-1) on two late power plays to seal Erie’s fate. The teams traded goals in the first period, with Barrie’s Dylan Smoskowitz and Erie’s Greg McKegg scoring in the first five minutes. The Colts took a 2-1 on Alex Lepkowski’s goal 1:37 into the second period.

But the Otters turned that one-goal deficit into a 3-2 lead on Travis Wood’s goal at the 8:47 mark and Connor Brown’s team-leading 14^th goal of the season with 6:02 left in the period. Yet the Colts tied the score at 3 with the man advantage, as Reid McNeill scored with 3:38 left in the period. Barrie then took the control in the third on the strength of an 18-9 shot advantage. Barrie outshot the Otters 46-29.

Tyson Teichmann stopped 41-of-46 shots for the Otters. Brown finished with a goal and assist while Mike Cazzola had two assists. Daniel Erlich paced the Colts with four assists. The Otters return to action next weekend with games at Tullio Arena against Sarnia on Friday and Kitchener on Saturday.

SUMMARY

Colts 5, Otters 3

Erie  1  2  0  —  3

Barrie  1  2  2  —  5

1^st Period — 1. Barrie, Dylan Smoskowitz 3 (Erlich, Buonomo), 1:23. 2. Erie, Greg McKegg 12 (Cazzola, Brown), 4:24. Penalties — Cairns (E) holding, 9:53; Evans (E) hooking, 12:23; Bradford (B) hooking, 14:36.

2^nd Period — 3. Barrie, Alex Lepkowski 5 (Buonomo), 1:37. 4. Erie, Travis Wood 6 (Cook, Betz), 8:47. 5. Erie, Connor Brown 14 (Pelech, Cazzola), 13:58. 6. Barrie, Reid McNeill 2 (Erlich, Bradford), 16:22 (pp). Penalties — Bell (B) slashing, 1:50; Erie, too many men (served by McKegg), 16:07; Locke (B) interference, 17:43; Cook (E) hooking, 18:32.

3^rd Period — 7. Barrie, Colin Behenna 14 (Erlich, Hall), 9:11. 8. Barrie, Eric Locke 7 (Beyers, Erlich), 12:15. Penalties — Grant (E) cross checking, 4:10; Cook (E) roughing, 4:29; Locke (B) slashing, 15:44; Lepkowski (B) holding, 18:31; Cazzola (E) roughing, 20:00; Buonomo (B) roughing, 20:00.

Shots on goal — Erie, 5-15-9—29; Barrie, 8-20-18—46.

Goaltenders — Erie, Tyson Teichmann 1-15-0-0 (46 shots, 41 saves); Barrie, Mathias Niederberger 13-81-0 (29 shots, 27 saves).

Power plays — Erie (0-5), Barrie (1-6).

Referees — Korey Bannerman, Scott Oakman. Linesmen — Ryan Wilson, Mike Zujko.

Attendance — 4,276.

Three stars

* Daniel Erlich, Colts (4 assists) ** Reid McNeill, Colts (goal) *** Connor Brown, Otters (goal, assist)

LONDON, Ontario – The Erie Otters had plenty of heart against London on Friday night.

The Otters simply didn’t have enough manpower in a 6-4 loss in front of 8,946 at John Labatt Centre. The Otters (1-7-0-0) dressed only 16 skaters, including nine rookies, because of injuries and illness.

Greg McKegg (minor concussion) was the latest veteran added to an injury list that includes Mike Cazzola (hand surgery), Connor Crisp (shoulder surgery) and Adam Pelech (wrist surgery). McKegg didn’t play Friday and also should miss Saturday’s 7 p.m. game against Windsor at Tullio Arena.

The Otters also faced the Western Conference-leading Knights (7-1-0-0) without veteran forward Brett Thompson (flu) and rookie forward Jake Evans (ill).

Johnny McGuire received a game misconduct late in the first period for removing Knights center Jarred Tinordi‘s helmet during a fight, leaving the Otters with 15 skaters for the rest of the game.

Yet the Otters rallied from an early 2-0 hole against the Knights to take a 3-2 second-period lead. Connor Brown scored late in the first, followed by fellow rookie Sondre Olden’s power-play score 2:45 into the second that tied the score. Chris Marchese’s power-play goal snapped the tie less than two minutes later.

London rallied with three straight goals, capped by rookie Bo Horvat’s score with 7:12 left in the second, to take a 5-3 lead into the third. Yet Marchese sliced London’s lead in half 9:08 into the third.

However, Vladislav Namestnikov scored into an empty net with 32 seconds left to seal the Otters’ fate.

Olden led the Otters with a goal and two assists, while Brett Cook and Travis Wood had two assists apiece. Rookie winger Mitchell Eisenberg had an assist for his first OHL point. Namestnikov paced the Knights with two goals and an assist. Michael Houser made 37 saves.

The Mississauga St. Michael’s took advantage of the man advantage Wednesday night.

The Majors scored three power-play goals on six chances – headlined by Dylan DeMelo’s go-ahead goal 8:12 into the third period – to rally past the Erie Otters 4-2 in front of 2,218 fans at Tullio Arena.

DeMelo led the Majors (8-1-0-0) with a goal and two assists, while goaltender Spencer Martin earned the win in his OHL debut after being a late addition to the lineup in place of veteran J.P. Anderson.

Meanwhile, injury woes and third-period struggles led to the Otters’ second straight loss and sixth defeat in seven games to start the season. The Otters allowed three goals in the final period.

Before the game, the Otters added veteran center Mike Cazzola to an injury list that includes defenseman Adam Pelech (wrist surgery) and forward Connor Crisp (shoulder surgery).

Cazzola undergoes surgery today in Erie to repair a small fracture in his hand and will miss the next month. The Otters also were without veteran forward Brett Thompson, a 40-goal scorer the past two seasons, because of the flu.

Yet the surging Majors also were short-handed, as they were without veterans Devante Smith-Pelly (who remains with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks), Joseph Cramarossa, Jordan Mayer and Stuart Percy.

So the teams were evenly matched in the opening period, with the Otters taking a 1-0 lead on rookie Connor Brown’s second career goal. He stole the puck at the Majors’ blue line, raced in on net and fired a shot under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead with 4:06 left in the period.

The Majors tied the score at 1 on the power play, as Sergey Kuptsov scored his sixth goal of the season on assists from David Corrente and DeMelo with 49 seconds left in the period. But the Otters capitalized on a power play early in the second.

Chris Marchese turned rookie defenseman Travis Wood’s point shot into a rebound goal 6:37 into the period. Rookie Sondre Olden also assisted on the goal. The Otters seemed to gain momentum from that goal. They outshot the Majors 15-9 in the period. Erie nearly capitalized on several of them, especially during a 5-minute power play that carried into the third.

However, the Otters didn’t extend their one-goal lead. The inability to finish proved costly for the Otters.

Derek Schoenmakers scored on the power play, with assists from Riley Brace and DeMelo, to tie the score at 2 at the 3:18 mark of the third. Then the Majors turned a 5-minute charging penalty against Otters rookie Tyler McCarthy into their third power-play goal of the game. DeMelo scored on assists from Justin Rasmussen and Corrente with 11:48 left. McCarthy also received a game misconduct.

Spencer Cobbold capped the Majors’ win with his first OHL goal late in the game.

- Victor Fernandes

No one can blame goaltending for the Erie Otters’ latest defeat.

Tyson Teichmann gave the Otters a chance to win with save after save – a career-high 55 in all.

Yet his teammates gave him little support at either end of the ice in a 6-3 loss to defending OHL champion Owen Sound in front of 2,409 at Tullio Arena on Saturday night. The Attack outshot the Otters 61-23 on their way to splitting the weekend doubleheader, including 47-10 in the final two periods.

Teichmann kept the game from being a rout.

The Attack built an early 1-0 lead on the Otters for the second straight night, as Brendan Childerley poked a wrap-around past goaltender Tyson Teichmann 1:28 into the opening period. But as in a 7-4 win Friday, the Otters responded.

Veteran forwards Luke Cairns and Greg McKegg, who combined for two goals and 11 points on Friday, teamed up on Cairns’ third goal in two nights to tie the score at 1 at the 3:37 mark.

Then late in the period, Sondre Olden’s hustle behind Owen Sound’s net led to fellow rookie Connor Brown’s first OHL goal. Olden deflected goaltender Jordan Binnington’s errant pass. Brown picked up the loose puck and slipped it into the open net for a 2-1 Otters’ lead with 5:44 left in the period.

The Attack tied the score at 2 on Joseph Blandisi’s rebound goal 3:41 into the second. Then the Otters’ ability to clear their defensive zone led to the tiebreaking goal with 7:42 left in the period. Daniel Catenacci scored off a scramble in front, with Jarrod Maidens and Keevin Cutting earning the assist.

The Otters were fortunate to trail only 3-2 heading into the third. Owen Sound outshot the Otters 28-5 in the middle period to build a 41-16 advantage after 40 minutes. Teichmann made several key saves, including a sprawling save in which he swatted the puck off the goal line.

He kept Erie’s deficit at a goal for most of the third period. But former Otters winger Brett Appio scored the clinching goal off a rebound to hand the Attack a 4-2 lead with 6:20 left. He had a goal and assist – his first points of the season.

Cameron Brace added an insurance goal on a breakaway less than two minutes later. Travis Wood scored for the second straight night 1:18 after Brace’s goal. Fellow rookie defenseman Liam Maaskant earned the assist for his first career point.

SUMMARY

Attack 6, Otters 3

Owen Sound  1  2  3  —  6

Erie  2  0  1  —  3

1^st Period — 1. Owen Sound, Brendan Childerley 3 (Nastasiuk, Appio), 1:28. 2. Erie, Luke Cairns 3 (McKegg, Cook), 3:37 (pp). 3. Erie, Connor Brown 1 (Olden), 14:16. Penalties — Bigras (O) hooking, 2:30; Holden (E) slashing, 10:36; Bigras (O) cross checking, 14:36; Cook (E) roughing, 18:46; Blandisi (O) roughing, 18:46; Grant (E) hooking, 19:23.

2^nd Period — 4. Owen Sound, Joseph Blandisi 3 (Petgrave, Zweep), 3:41. 5. Owen Sound, Daniel Catenacci 4 (Maidens, Cutting), 12:18. Penalties — None.

3^rd Period — 6. Owen Sound, Brett Appio 1 (Rose, Smith), 13:40. 7. Owen Sound, Cameron Brace 3 (Blandisi), 15:04. 8. Erie, Travis Wood 2 (Maaskant), 16:12. 9. Owen Sound, Mike Halmo 3 (Petgrave, Catenacci), 19:00 (en). Penalties — McGuire (E) interference, 1:30.

Shots on goal — Owen Sound, 13-28-20—61; Erie, 11-7-5—23.

Goaltenders — Owen Sound, Jordan Binnington 3-3-0-0 (23 shots, 20 saves); Erie, Tyson Teichmann 0-3-0-0 (60 shots, 55 saves).

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

Referees — Bob Langdon, Joe Celestin. Linesmen — Drew Jackson, Mike Harrington.

Attendance — 2,409.

Three stars

* Joseph Blandisi, Attack (goal, assist) ** Brett Appio, Attack (goal, assist) *** Luke Cairns, Otters (goal)

The Erie Otters were in unfamiliar territory Friday night – leading after two periods.

The Otters were in unfamiliar territory at the end of the game, too. They were ahead.

Behind career highs from Greg McKegg (six points) and Luke Cairns (five points), the Otters snapped a season-opening, four-game losing streak with a 7-5 win against defending champion Owen Sound in front of 1,997 fans at Tullio Arena.

But the Otters (1-4-0-0) needed a strong final period to seal the elusive win.

The Attack (3-4-0-0) opened the scoring 4:33 into the first, as Joseph Blandisi scored from in front off a pass from Holden Cook. But young players helped the Otters even the score before the first intermission.

Shortly after a strong shift from rookies Stephen Harper and Jake Evans and second-year winger Johnny McGuire, first-year defenseman Travis Wood fired a wrist through a screen and past Attack goaltender J.P. Cesario with 6:17 left. Cairns and rookie Nathan Glass had the assists, with Glass earning his first OHL point.

Yet the Attack took the lead again early in the second – with help from the Otters.

Matt Petgrave’s cross-ice pass from the left wing deflected off rookie defenseman Liam Maaskant’s stick and slipped past Otters goaltender Chris Festarini 1:39 into the period. Yet the Attack returned the favor, as Derek Holden’s rebound bounced off a defender to tie the score at 2 less than two minutes later.

Holden, who was scratched as an extra overager in three of the first four games, scored again at the 4:06 mark – this time on the power play. He fired a wrist shot under the crossbar to snap the 2-2 tie.

Cairns and McKegg, who fell one point of equaling the franchise mark of seven points, assisted on both of Holden’s goals. But the Otters’ lead didn’t last long, as Gemel Smith slipped past the defense to score the tying goal 5:06 into the period.

The teams combined for four goals in the opening five minutes and six goals overall in the period.

McKegg’s stretch pass to a streaking Brett Thompson turned into Thompson’s third goal of the season and a 4-3 Otters lead with 5:32 left in the second. McKegg earned his third assist and Glass his second on the goal. Then Cairns and McKegg combined for a power-play goal for a 5-3 Otters’ lead with 3:47 left.

The Attack sliced their deficit in half 1:01 into the third, as Artur Gavrus deflected a bouncing puck past Festarini. But Cairns scored his second goal of the game to regain a two-goal lead with 9:55 left, only to have the Attack move within one goal again at 6-5 on Jake Dotchin’s goal with 7:18 left in the game. But Brett Cook’s power-play goal with 4:06 left sealed the win.

SUMMARY

Otters 7, Attack 5

Owen Sound  1  2  2  —  5

Erie  1  4  2  —  7

1^st Period — 1. Owen Sound, Joseph Blandisi 2 (Cook), 4:33. 2. Erie, Travis Wood 1 (Cairns, Glass), 13:43. Penalties — Smith (O) high sticking, :10; Thompson (E) interference, 1:16; McGuire (E) 5-min. fighting, 4:26; Zweep (O) 5-min. fighting, 4:26; Catenacci (O) tripping, 6:09; Gavrus (O) 4-min. checking from behind, 15:02; Thompson (E) roughing, 15:02; McDonnell (E) roughing, 18:26; Gilbert (O) hooking, 18:50.

2^nd Period — 3. Owen Sound, Matt Petgrave 3 (unassisted), 1:39. 4. Erie, Derek Holden 1 (McKegg, Cairns), 3:28. 5. Erie, Holden 2 (McKegg, Cairns), 4:06 (pp). 6. Owen Sound, Gemel Smith 2 (unassisted), 5:06. 7. Erie, Brett Thompson 3 (McKegg, Glass), 14:28. 8. Erie, Luke Cairns 1 (McKegg, Cook), 16:12 (pp). Penalties — Appio (O) hooking, 3:53; McKegg (E) roughing, 6:21; Catenacci (O) roughing, 6:21; Festarini (E) hooking (served by McKegg), 12:09; Gilbert (O) checking to the head, 16:00; McCarthy (E) 5-min. fighting, 18:09; Appio (E) 5-min. fighting, 18:09; Gilbert (O) interference, 18:35.

3^rd Period — 9. Owen Sound, Artur Gavrus 1 (Smith, Childerley), 1:01. 10. Erie, Cairns 2 (McKegg), 10:05. 11. Owen Sound, Jake Dotchin 1 (Smith, Halmo), 12:42 (pp). 12. Erie, Brett Cook 1 (McKegg, Thompson), 15:54 (pp). Penalties — Brown (E) hooking, 11:52; Petgrave (O) high sticking, 14:46.

Shots on goal — Owen Sound, 8-10-10—28; Erie, 9-11-10—30.

Goaltenders — Owen Sound, J.P. Cesario 1-1-0-0 (30 shots, 23 saves); Erie, Chris Festarini 1-2-0-0 (28 shots, 24 saves).

Power plays — Owen Sound (1-4), Erie (3-8).

Referees — Craig Spada, Seth Ferguson. Linesmen — Jesse Wilmot, Adam Harris.

Attendance — 1,997.

Three stars

* Luke Cairns, Otters (2 goals, 3 assists) ** Greg McKegg, Otters (6 assists) *** Derek Holden, Otters (2 goals)

The Erie Otters dropped their preseason opener 2-0 to Niagara at Tullio Arena on Saturday night.

But Otters coach Robbie Ftorek said he was “pleased with what they did on the ice.”

The Otters featured a lineup filled with young players, nine of which made their OHL debut. They faced a veteran-laden IceDogs club that included NHL first-round picks Dougie Hamilton, Ryan Strome and Mark Visentin.

But the Otters battled the IceDogs from start to finish.

Chris Festarini and Tyson Teichmann, who are vying for the No. 1 goaltending job, allowed a goal apiece while splitting time in net. Festarini stopped 17-of-18 shots while Teichmann had seven saves.

Mitch Bennett snapped the scoreless tie 7 minutes, 35 seconds into the second period on the IceDogs’ first power-play chance of the game. The IceDogs finished 1-for-2 compared to the Otters’ 0-for-5. David Pacan capped the scoring with 4:32 left in the game.

The Otters scratched several veterans from the lineup – goaltender Ramis Sadikov, defensemen Brett Cook, Derek Holden and Kris Grant and forwards Mike Cazzola, Greg McKegg and Brett Thompson.

Left wing Sondre Olden, the club’s highly regarded top pick in the CHL Import Draft, also was scratched because the International Ice Hockey Federation hasn’t officially approved his paperwork. Sherry Bassin, Otters managing partner and general manager, expects that to happen Tuesday or Wednesday. Bassin also announced the signings of several prospects – 2011 draft picks Nick Betz, Patrick Murphy and Travis Wood, 2010 pick Connor Brown and 2009 pick Johnny McGuire.

SUMMARY

IceDogs 2, Otters 0

Niagara  0  1  1  —  2

Erie  0  0  0  —  0

1^st Period — 1. None. Penalties — Niagara, too many men (served by Desautels), 5:17; Shipley (N) hooking, 15:28.

2^nd Period — Niagara, Mitch Bennett (Strome, F. Hamilton), 7:35 (pp). Penalties — D. Hamilton (N) elbowing, :50; McCarthy (E) roughing, 6:51; Cairns (E) hooking, 9:33; Verhaeghe (N) hooking, 9:40; Beukeboom (N) slashing, 17:53.

3^rd Period — 2. Niagara, David Pacan (F. Hamilton), 15:28. Penalties — McGuire (E) 5-min. fighting, 2:57; Desautels (N) 5-min. fighting, 2:57; McGuire (E) game misconduct, 2:57; Desautels (N) game misconduct, 2:57; Cairns (E) delay of game, 6:25; Windsor (N) delay of game, 6:25; D. Hamilton (N) cross checking, 6:54.

Shots on goal — Niagara, 10-11-5—26; Erie, 11-6-9—26.

Goaltenders — Niagara, Mark Visentin (13 shots, 13 saves), Mike Gallardi (13 shots, 13 saves); Erie, Chris Festarini (18 shots, 17 saves), Tyson Teichmann (8 shots, 7 saves).

Power plays — Niagara (1-2), Erie (0-5).

Referees — Craig Spada, Keith Kaval. Linesmen — Ray King, Mike Harrington.