Opening night of the OHL season a night of firsts for Erie Otters, including shootout loss

The Erie Otters' special teams were special, and so was star defenseman Christian Kyrou, but Peterborough rallied to force overtime and won the first game of the new season in a shootout Thursday night before 3,209 fans at Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario.

Petes center Tucker Robertson capped a standout performance with the only goal in the shootout. Peterborough trailed 2-0 and 4-2 but tied it at 4 at 15 minutes, 38 seconds of the third on the second of Nick Lardis' two goals.

The Petes' Connor Lockhart, who was traded by Erie in August, picked up three assists against his former team.

Robertson scored Peterborough's first goal and assisted on Lardis' game-tying score. He also was a plus-one and won 21-of-28 faceoffs. Jax Dubois won 16-of-20 faceoffs and Chase Lefebvre 6-of-9 in a dominant Petes performance at the dot. Carey Terrance won eight of the Otters' 17 successful draws.

Erie got a point in large part because of excellent special teams. The penalty kill went 5-for-5 and Kyrou and Brett Bressette scored on two of the Otters' four power plays.

Michael Simpson made 32 saves to earn the win, also allowing goals to Bruce McDonald and Terrance. Erie goaltender Marshall Nicholls made 21 saves.

Erie Otters' firsts of 2022-23 season

Some Otters' season firsts to note:

Goal: Kyrou on the power play in the first period.

Primary assist: Spencer Sova on Kyrou's goal.

Secondary assist: Bressette on Kyrou's goal.

Career goal: McDonald in the first period.

Career assist: Malcolm Spence in the first period.

Faceoff win: Colby Saganiuk in the first period.

Penalty: Owain Johnson, check from behind, first period.

Power play: Peterborough delay of game, first period.

Goal allowed: Nicholls in the first period, by Robertson.

Shootout miss: Bressette.

Shootout goal allowed: Nicholls, by Robertson.

Three-point game: Kyrou, goal and two assists.

Sponsor decals: Peterborough fans got the first look at sponsor logos on the Otters' helmets. The OHL for this season approved sales of helmet space for sponsor decals. The Otters' home and road helmets feature the ERIEBANK logo.

Captains: Elias Cohen is the full-time alternate captain for the first time while home alternates Noah Sedore and Sova and road alternates Kyrou and Terrance wear letters for the first time. Cameron Morton, an alternate a year ago, was named team captain.

First home game: Oct. 8, 7 p.m., versus London.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie Otters fall to Peterborough in shootout on OHL's opening night