Sports
Whalers Bury Kingston, 8-3
The older Plymouth Whalers team beats the Kingston Frontenacs, one of the youngest teams in the Ontario Hockey League.
KINGSTON - The Kingston Frontenacs came into Friday's game with the Plymouth Whalers with a two-game winning streak and at 5-3-0-0. As one of the youngest teams in the Ontario Hockey League, the Frontenacs are seen by many to be a team on the rise.
But an older, more experienced Whalers team dominated much of the way in an 8-3 victory before 3,199 at Plymouth's current home-away-from home, K-ROCK Centre.
The Whalers - now 4-3-2-1 - have never lost at K-ROCK Centre and have won four straight games since the building opened in 2008-09.
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Kingston is now 5-4-0-0.
There were more than three stars for Plymouth tonight. Ryan Hartman had The Gordie Howe Hat Trick and a little more as the game's first star, scoring a shorthanded goal (his second of the year) with three assists, was +3 and got into a fight with Kingston's Jean Dupuy, who retaliated after Hartman bowled over Henri Ikonen at center ice in the third period. Garrett Meurs scored twice for the Whalers (5-6) as the game's second star. Rickard Rakell scored for the second straight game (his sixth of the year) as the game's third star.
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In addition, Simon Karlsson scored his first OHL goal, Stefan Noesen scored his seventh of the year, Cody Payne scored a goal (6th) with two assists and was +3 and Matt Mistele added his third of the season. Danny Vanderwiel and Tom Wilson recorded two assists each. Zach Bratina didn't score, but played his best game as a Whaler.
Wilson was a physical force. Older Plymouth fans remember how James Neal and Jared Boll dominated the rink during the Whalers Championship Season of 2006-07. Wilson was similar tonight in Kingston.
Trevor Morbeck (second), Roland McKeown (second) and Darcy Greenaway (sixth) scored for Kingston.
The Whalers scored their goals in bunches, snapping a 1-1 tie in the first period with a pair of goals 27 seconds apart to lead 3-1 after twenty minutes. After Kingston cut the Plymouth lead to 3-2, the Whalers extended their lead to 6-2 with three goals in a span of 4:16 to lead 6-2 after two periods. The Whalers put the game away for good with a pair of goals 19 seconds apart in the third period to lead 8-2.
An effective fore-check helped Plymouth beat Peterborough, 2-1, on Thursday night, and Whalers used the same formula against a young Kingston defense with good success. Plymouth kept the play in the Frontenacs' zone for extended periods of time tonight.
After Karlsson (rebound from the right circle at 3:54) and Morbeck (re-direct at 6:33) traded power play goals in the first period, Wilson went to work to give the Whalers a 3-1 lead, powering the puck from behind the Kingston net to find Meurs at the hash marks at 9:02 and finding Noesen for a shot, top-shelf, at 10:29 with a similar play, as he navigated effectively through traffic.
McKeown scored for Kingston on a two-on-one at 4:48 of the second period to cut the Plymouth lead to 3-2, but the Whalers pulled away emphatically to extend the lead to 6-2. Hartman set up Meurs in the slot, who followed up his own rebound to score from the right circle at 6:19. Rakell - set up by Payne - scored just outside the blue paint, five-hole, at 8:04 to give Plymouth a 5-2 lead.
At that point, Kingston starting goaltender Mike Morrison was pulled in favor of rookie Colin Furlong. Morrison stopped 21-of-26 shots in 28:04 of work.
Plymouth kept coming, with Hartman scoring a highlight reel goal, shorthanded, at 10:35, to give the Whalers a 6-2 lead. Hartman followed McKeown behind the Kingston goal, stole the puck and scored on a wrap around.
The Whalers finished their scoring with a pair of goals 19 seconds apart in the third period to lead, 8-2. Mistele - a threat all night long - was rewarded as he skated unchecked out of the right corner in the Kingston zone and scored from the slot at 4:52. Payne scored at 5:11, completing a well executed two-one-one with Vanderwiel.
Greenaway completed the scoring at 14:24.
Plymouth outshot Kingston, 49-24. The last time Plymouth scored eight goals was Jan. 21 in an 8-0 victory over Sault Ste. Marie at Compuware Arena.
The Whalers remain on the road Sunday in Oshawa at 6 p.m. at General Motors Centre (www.plymouthwhalers.com).
After playing in London next Friday, the Whalers host Kitchener on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 7:05 p.m. at Compuware Arena.