So much for home sweet home.
At least through three games of the Ontario Hockey League playoff between the Erie Otters and Saginaw Spirit.
The Otters sought a commanding 3-0 series advantage by the end of Tuesday's meeting at Erie Insurance Arena. They were in position to accomplish that with a 17-goal barrage over two road victories against their Michigan opponents.
Now, though, the series still awaits its initial win by a home team due to Zayne Parekh. The Spirit defenseman, with less than six minutes left in a 20-minute overtime period, flicked a shot from between the circles that eluded the glove of Erie goaltender Noah Erliden.
Saginaw's 3-2 victory cut the Otters' series lead to 2-1. It also negated Erie's dramatic goal that forced overtime.
Bonus hockey was needed after Malcolm Spence converted the rebound off a stop by Spirit goalie Kaleb Papineau with 13 seconds left in regulation.
However, Parekh's heroics at least assured Erie won't win the teams' Western Conference quarterfinal in a sweep.
"There's some guys who are really feeling it in (the locker room)," Otters coach Kris Mallette said. "This is the playoffs. This is not like a regular season game.
"We put ourselves in a situation where we forced overtime, and we had some good looks (on net) in overtime. But, that's the way it goes sometimes. We've got to learn from it and have a short memory."
The next chance for the series' initial home victor is Thursday back at EIA. Game four between the fifth-seeded Otters and the fourth-seeded Spirit starts at 7 p.m.
More spirit in Spirit
Mallette expected Saginaw to compete Tuesday like its season was on the line.
He was right.
Although the Spirit trailed 1-0 on a goal by Erie's Sam Alfano, they were sharper than their losses at Dow. They required no multi-goal comeback this time with help from Papineau, whose 39 saves included seven in overtime.
Saginaw also caught Erie with a 1-2 scoring punch during the second period. Parekh and Calem Mangone got pucks past Otters goalie Noah Erliden in a 2:06 span.
"I thought we sat back too much (in that period)," Mallette said. "The key is to take time and space away from, offensively, a really talented team.
"(The Spirit) defintely came out more determined and they were more physical in that period."
Saginaw maintained its 2-1 lead until Spence's goal in the waning seconds of regulation. It occurred seconds after Erie pulled Erliden a second time for an extra attacker.
Other results
The Otters had the chance to join the London Knights as a conference team with a 3-0 quarterfinal lead.
The top-seeded Knights achieved that series margin with ...
