FeedsWhalers step it up, win 6 of last 8
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James Neal battles against Petes in a 6-1 victory on Saturday. Neal scored a goal to boost his total to a team-leading 15. Photo by Ken GarnerThe Plymouth Whalers on the right track, which they hope is a winning one that will get them back to the Ontario Hockey League playoffs this season.
So far, so good.
With six wins in their last eight games, they have a 14-10-1-0 record this season. The Whalers are currently in fourth place in the West division, but there is a lot of season yet to play.
The Whalers have a solid core of players returning from last year’s playoff team with a nice mix of new additions and rookies.
Plymouth recently won two of its last three over the long Thanksgiving weekend.
On Saturday the Whalers used a combination of new and old players to thrash the Peterborough Petes, 6-1, at home.
The team’s special teams unit got things done on their end, scoring four goals. Veteran defender and captain Steve Ward led the way with two power-play tallies and an assist. Rookie left winger AJ Jenks also scored twice.
James Neal, the team’s top scorer, added one to boost his total to 15 for the season. Defenseman Ryan McGinnis scored his first of the season in the win.
Evan Brophey contributed three assists in the contest upping his total to 29.
Peterborough captain Steve Downie scored a short-handed goal at 7:41 of the second period for the Petes’ lone score.
Michigan’s own Jeremy Smith, of Brownstown, stopped 31 of 32 Peterborough shots to record his seventh victory of the season.
Plymouth hosts Saginaw at 7:05 pm on Friday at the Compuware Sports Arena and Guelph at 7:05 pm on Saturday.
Whalers 3, Rangers 4 OT
Jean-Michel Rizk scored at 4:05 of overtime to snap a 3-3 tie to defeat the Plymouth Whalers at home on Friday.
Brian Soso, Yves Bastien , Kevin Henderson all scored for Kitchener. Detroit Red Wing draft Jakub Kindl had a hand in three of the goals.
Tom Sestito scored twice for Plymouth and Andrew Fournier added one for Plymouth.
Kitchener outshot Plymouth, 39-22.
Whalers 5, Spitfires 4
The Whalers withstood a late Windsor surge and defeated the Spitfires, 5-4, at home on the eve of Thanksgiving.
Plymouth received goals from five different scorers in the match-up.
Neal, Sestito, John Armstrong, Chris Terry and Vern Cooper all scored for the Whalers. Joe McCann recorded two assists.
Mark Cundari, Ryan Baldwin, Craig Voakes and Brad Snetsinger scored for Windsor.
The win was good for Plymouth goaltender Michal Neuvirth’s seventh of the year.
