IceDogs battle back in Wednesday night victory
ERIE, PA – The IceDogs opened up their week in Erie, Pennsylvania this evening for a 6:30 PM puck drop. It was the last meeting of the geographical rivals and Niagara’s second last road game in the 2022-2023 season. 47 stops from Owen Flores, a three point night for Alex Assadourian, and two goals from Zakary Lavoie would give the IceDogs the victory in Erie.
Starting Goaltenders: Owen Flores (NIAG), Nolan Lalonde (ER)
Owen Flores started the game hot with an impressive 12 saves in the first 12 minutes. The opening goal came at the 12:47 mark where Erie struck first. With 3 minutes remaining in the first, Zakary Lavoie would find the back of the net with a quick release just seconds off of the draw. Lavoie’s 25th goal on the season would tie Declan Waddick for the team lead.
There was no change in score after the second frame with credit to Owen Flores stopping all 19 for a two period total of 36.
The IceDogs would begin the final period on the man-advantage due to a late second period penalty called against the home team. Just over a minute into the third, Alex Assadourian set up Jacob LeBlanc for a crisp point shot on goal to find Declan Waddick for the redirect and tie the game up once again. Waddick’s powerplay goal would put him back in the team lead with 26 goals in 60 games played.
With under 1 minute remaining in the contest, a rebound off of David Jesus’ point shot would find Zak Lavoie out front to roof his 26th of the season for the game winning goal.
Owen Flores steered away 47 shots in the victory as IceDogs came out on top.
Niagara will head to Barrie on Saturday night to take on the Colts before they are home to the Peterborough Petes at 2:00 PM.
Three Stars
- NIAG Owen Flores (47 saves)
- NIAG Zak Lavoie (2 goals + GWG)
- ER Bruce McDonald (1 goal, 1 assist)
Team Stats
Powerplay: NIAG: 1/2 | ER: 0/4
Shots: 32 NIAG | 50 ER
Goal Scorers
- ER B. McDonald (7) A: A. Messier, K. Smith – P1 12:47
- NIAG Z. Lavoie (25) – P1 17:03
- ER K. Smith (9) A: B. McDonald, A. Daviault – P1 19:16
- NIAG D. Waddick (26) A: J. LeBlanc, A. Assadourian – P3 1:07
- NIAG Z. Lavoie (26) A: K. He, A. Assadourian – P3 19:01