Never leave early! That's the lesson once again from Thursday night's IceDogs 5-4 shootout win over Erie at the Meridian Centre. Krys Barch's team has scored the winner in the last half of the third period or later in 15 of their 28 wins.
Between the pipes, Charlie Robertson was outstanding and picked up the win in a second straight game decided after 60 minutes.
Ethan Czata's 23rd and Riley Patterson's 35th, staked the home side to a 2-0 lead before the game was four minutes old.
Leading 2-1 after one, Hayden Reid scored his 15th in the second at the 1:31 mark but Erie scored twice to send the game into the second intermission even at 3-all.
Noah Read was all set to play the hero when he stuck for his 8th with 1:25 to go in regulation but a late delay of game penalty lead to Erie's tying goal with 7.5 seconds left.
Overtime included more drama as the IceDogs emptied the net with 1:31 to go, followed by an Erie penalty with 50 seconds left. A shootout would follow as the IceDogs outshot Erie 44-36 over 65 minutes.
Riley Patterson was the only shooter to find the back of the net as Charlie Robertson foiled all three Otters attempts.
No time to enjoy this one as the IceDogs travel to Guelph Friday night. New Country 89.1 will be there with the pre-game on-air at 6:45.