WINDSOR - Teams looking to score goals are often rewarded when they go to the dirty areas of the offensive zone. Win battles for pucks from the hash marks, around the boards and close to the blue paint and goals often result.
That's what the Windsor Spitfires did in a 5-1 victory over the Plymouth Whalers in a New Year's Eve matinee played before 5,580 at Windsor Family Credit Union Centre.
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Windsor remains one of the hottest teams in the Ontario Hockey League. They improve to 24-12-1-0 in winning their fourth straight game. The Whalers had a two-game winning streak snapped and are 13-21-0-4.
The Spits extended a 1-0 lead after one period with three unanswered goals in a span of 8:01 in the second period to lead 4-0 and never looked back.
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Mathieu Henderson scored the lone Plymouth goal - his fifth of the year - on a well-executed power play at 3:53 of the third period. Other than that, Whalers head coach Mike Vellucci started the game with one set of forward lines, but was soon mixing and matching personnel, as he often does, looking for an offensive spark.
Other than Henderson's goal, the best chance for the Whalers to score came in the second period when Victor Crus Rydberg took a shot from the hasmarks and followed up his own rebound on the right wing. But Spits' goaltender Dalen Kuchmey stopped both attempts.
Meanwhile, Windsor received goals from five different players - Ben Johnson (17th) in the first period, Remy Giftopoulos (16th), Steven Janes (8th) and Brady Vail (16th) in the second and an empty-netter with twenty seconds left in the game from Sam Povorozniouk (9th).
The Spits outshot Plymouth, 15-3, in the first period. Johnson is known for his speed, but scored with tenacity just outside the Plymouth blue ice through traffic in whacking away at the puck until it trickled over the line.
Plymouth outshot Windsor, 14-11, in the second period, but the Spits started to pull away on Giftopoulos goal at 3:46, set up Josh Ho-Sang. Giftopoulos faked forehand in front of Plymouth goaltender Zack Bowman, then stuffed a backhand over the goal line.
Janes made it 3-0 at 5:55 on a re-direct in front of Bowman after Slater Koekkoek skated the puck to the left corner in the Plymouth zone and fed it in front. Vail made it 4-0 at 11:47, deflecting Eric Diodati's shot from the puck in front of Bowman, who didn't have much of a chance once the puck changed direction.
Henderson got a goal back for Plymouth in the third period, ripping a shot from the hasmarks, top shelf. But that was as close as Plymouth got. Vellucci pulled Bowman for the extra attacker with over two minutes left, but Povorozniouk completed the scoring with his empty-net marker.
Bowman - who has won on the road in Guelph and Saginaw - got the start in goal for the Whalers in place of Alex Nedeljkovic and stopped 25-of-29 shots in 57:48.
Two other Whaler pups showed some spark in the game.
Vince Scognamiglio played regularly in the first period, but was ejected from the game in the second after fighting Chris Cobham at the 6:00 mark of the second period - five seconds after Windsor made it 3-0. In the opinion of referees Jason Faist and Ryan Hutchsion, Scognamiglio and Cobham left their respective benches to fight. Vellucci and Windsor head coach Bob Boughner did not agree with the assessment.
Later in the second period, Plymouth's Liam Dunda came back after he was slashed by Windsor's Cristiano DiGiacinto at 19:02 and won a fight with DiGiacinto decisively.
Plymouth starts a stretch of six of its next seven games at Compuware Arena, starting Thursday afternoon at 2 pm against the Sault Ste. Marie and then Saturday night at 7:05 pm against Niagara.
