FeedsWhalers topple London Knights, Erie Otters
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Whaler Evan Brophey fires a shot at Erie goalie in Plymouth’s 10-1 victory on Friday. Brophey scored three goals and notched two assists in the win. Photo by Ken Garner.Compuware Sports Arena played host to two of the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) premier teams Saturday when Plymouth and London took to the ice in a division crossover game.
It was the Whalers—first in the West Division at 35-13-1-2—that lanced the visiting London Knights (36-12-1-3), 7-3. London leads the Midwest division of the OHL.
The win put Plymouth 11 games ahead of second-place Saginaw (29-20-0-2) with 17 games left to play in the regular season.
The bitter cold didn’t deter the Whaler’s red-hot January streak. Plymouth went 10-2 for the month. They’re already ahead 2-1 in February with wins against London and Erie and a loss at Sarnia.
Saturday’s win against London was the Whalers’ third in the four meetings with the Knights this season. Furthermore, the game proved that defense wins games, too.
Plymouth’s league-leading penalty killing unit shut down London’s league-leading power play. The Whalers only gave up one power-play score in 10 London attempts. A big part of that was the performance of star goaltender Michal Neuvirth, who stopped 32-of-35 London shots to beat the Knights for the third time this season. His overall record now rests at 20-7-1-1.
Offensively, Tom Sestito scored two goals, boosting his team-leading total to 31. Sean O’Connor also scored two goals and notched an assist in the rout. Evan Brophey, Chris Terry and Wes Cunningham each scored single goals.
O’Connor got things started at 2:53 of the opening frame when he fired a shot past Steve Mason. Sestito gave Plymouth a 2-0 lead with a goal at the 16:52 mark of the period.
The Whalers added three more goals in the second period. Terry scored just 1:56 in but Rob Drummond made it a 3-1 game when he got one by Neuvirth. O’Connor scored off of a Jared Boll pass and Brophey made it 5-1 with about 1:06 left in the middle round.
The teams traded two goals apiece in the third. Cunningham made it 6-2 at 5:15 and Sestito finished off the scoring at 9:36. Patrick Kane (4:50) and Sam Gagner (7:55) also scored for London.
Plymouth plays host to Owen Sound at 7:05 pm on Friday and to Windsor at 7:05 pm on Saturday before heading to Windsor at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Whalers 10, Otters 1
Brophey and Sestito each scored three goals in the Whalers 10-1 victory over the Erie Otters at home on Friday night.
Brophey also had two assists and Sestito, one. Dan Collins and James Neal each added a goal and three assists. Ryan McGinnis and Andrew Fournier scored one goal apiece. Plymouth also set a franchise record with 72 shots on net.
Kelly Geoffrey scored Eries’ lone goal.
Plymouth scored on 6-of-10 power-play attempts and stopped six of Erie’s seven power-play chances.
The win redeemed Plymouth’s 5-1 loss at Sarnia on Thursday.
Neal was the only Whaler to score in the outing.
Daniel Lombardi, Craig Vokes, Justin DiBenedetto, Steve Reese and Harrison Reed all scored for Sarnia.
