Erie Otters earn road split vs. Soo Greyhounds, North Bay rolls Oshawa in Game 1: OHL post-game questions

Dylan Strome bounced back from a quiet series opener and Erie soundly evened the Western final with a 5-2 win at Sault Ste. Marie, which might have sustained a significant injury to Anthony DeAngelo. Meantime, Ottawa Senators prospect Nick Paul got a deflating goal during a two-man penalty kill and North Bay won 6-1 at Oshawa, which had "probably our worst game as a team all year," taking a 1-0 lead in the Eastern final.

Each series resumes Sunday. On with the post-game questions!

Western Conference

Erie 5 Sault Ste. Marie 2 (tied 1-1, Erie hosts Game 3 on Sunday) — What stroke of luck helped Strome be good? Top-end scorers are known to stay out on a long shift, and Strome (2G-1A, +3) lingered late in the first. On came Connor McDavid (2G-1A, +2) to find Strome with a pass, which the Otters' other super-prospect put just beyond the reach of Soo goalie Brandon Halverson to forge a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes.

"When 97 comes on you have to be alert," Strome said. "He put it through a guy's legs. I don't know how he saw me. It was good and it got us going."

Devin Williams (27 saves) was at his sharpest when the Soo surged early in the second in a bid to regain the lead. Strome one-timed a McDavid feed in for the lead at 18:06, then the Otters scored two quick goals in the first 1:46 of the third to take the air out of the Essar Centre.

"That's about as good as I've seen those two play," said Otters coach Kris Knoblauch, whose team hosts games 3 and 4. "Those goals Dylan scored, those are goals your fourth-line pluggers don't get, great shots, nice and accurate. On the goaltending side, Devin was solid.

Dallas Stars draft pick Remi Elie won a puck battle and passed out to McDavid for a stunning goal 23 seconds into the third, making the second game in a row that Erie has connected on the first shift of the final period. Strome set up Kyle Maksimovich 23 seconds later.

How significant is the injury to DeAngelo? The Tampa Bay Lightning first-rounder wasn't seen much in the final period after being crunched into the end boards by Travis Dermott. Eventually, the 19-year-old, who's a big part of the Soo's transition game, had to leave the contest.

"If it's regular season, you're probably going to say he's out," Soo coach Sheldon Keefe said of DeAngelo. "Tony's a fighter. He tried to play through it but ultimately we decided it was best to give it a chance to settle down. We'll evaluate him in the morning. It's two days, essentially, before we play again [on Sunday night]."

Why were the 'Hounds so flat on home ice and how will they respond Sunday? It's probably a cop-out to say the game's cautious tenor, after a trading-chances tilt on Thursday, worked to the Soo's detriment. It didn't slow down McDavid much, after all.

The Greyhounds, who are the on-paper favourite to win the OHL title, are simply working through their first true bout of adversity. Friday was only their 13th regulation-time loss in 78 games and first at the Essar Centre since Jan. 4, when Darnell Nurse and Nick Ritchie (actually still a Peterborough Pete at that time) were playing with McDavid in the world junior semifinal.

"When top players have three or four points when they score five, that falls a lot upon myself," Nurse said. "I have to do a better job out there and lead from there. If we don't have a response in the third, that's on me as well."

The Greyhounds also hadn't lost anywhere since March 11 at North Bay. Sometimes a team just needs a a wake-up call, but the reality also is it only got a split from the games where it can get its preferred matchups against McDavid.

"You're going to be faced with some moments that are going to determine whether you're going to succeed," Keefe said. "We're facing a team that's got momentum on their side. They're very good at home. They have momentum. We have to find a way ot get things going in our side. it's going to be a challenge. We believe in our group."

Eastern Conference

North Bay 6 Oshawa 1 (Battalion lead 1-0, Generals host Game 2 on Sunday) — How often has Oshawa's D been exposed like that? Simply put, the Gens never gave up six goals in any of their first 77 games. The Battalion, taking advantage of turnovers, made it look easy, pulling away as Paul, overage Ray Huether and Columbus Blue Jackets fourth-rounder Nick Moutrey each scored off the rush.

"We have pretty good speed whether it's Zach Bratina, Ray Huether and Nick's not too bad either," Battalion coach Stan Butler said. "When you get speed through the neutral zone and there's gaps in the D you're going to get through no matter who the D are.

"It's only one game," Butler emphasized.

The Generals, whose last home loss was Feb. 21, opened scoring on a goal from Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael McCarron. They steadily frayed over the final 40 minutes as power-play frustrations (try 0-for-7) mounted.

"We play off the cycle, we grind and we play tough hockey," Generals coach D.J. Smith said. "I didn't see that tonight. We had very few forwards who got in on a forecheck and made anyone pay. And our defence just didn't move the puck up. They held on it and it cost us 3-4 breakaways."

After five playoff losses in a row, how fair is it to think that the Battalion are in the Generals' heads? It's a great narrative arc, to be sure. Last spring, Paul scored late in the opener to give North Bay a Game 1 road win and Oshawa never rebounded. This time, the Senators prospect scored for a 3-1 lead while his team was two men short, providing a microcosm of the game.

"We got a lot of pride in that room," Smith said. "This is a different team than a year ago. But in saying that, they should be starting to think about it. They beat us 6-1 in our building. We haven't lost here in a long time. But we also haven't played like that in our building in a long time. We'd be hard-pressed to play like that again."

Oshawa's Cole Cassels and Michael Dal Colle weren't able to replicate the synergy they had at the tailend of Round 2 against Niagara. Dal Colle was minus-3 on the evening.

So what flipped the game after the first period? North Bay was embiggened by being down just 1-0 after the opening 20 minutes, where it twice had to kill off over-the-glass delay-of-game penalties. Having the experience of last season's run to the final kicked in at the point.

"We just do the same things and keep rolling," Paul said. "Come back to the bench, relax, talk to your linemates about what needs correcting and get ready to go again."

Rookie Zach Poirier got the 1-1 goal just before the four-minute mark and Huether staked the Battalion to a load.  

"I always tell my players when they don't play well, 'you can get bitter or you can get better,' " Butler said. "They went out and they were better."  

How did Oshawa's oft-potent power play end up 0-for-7? Battalion goalie Jake Smith had an unobstructed view of most shots and didn't cough up many rebounds. Meantime, Oshawa, adapting to a new opponent after its series with Niagara, was tentative and ended up with a case of perimeteritis.

"They were taking away Cassels along the half-boards and leaving [Mitchell] Vande Sompel open at the top," D.J. Smith said. "He's got to shot the puck. I saw shooting lanes open and we were passing the puck around the outside. Our power play is as good as anyone's in the league and I'm sure they will bounce back."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.