Whalers Roll to 7-1 Win Over Erie

PLYMOUTH – With the forward line of Rickard Rakell, Stefan Noesen and Garrett Meurs leading the way, the Plymouth Whalers extended a 2-0 lead after one period of play with four unanswered goals in the second period. The Whalers went on to defeat the Erie Otters, 7-1, in an Ontario Hockey League game Sunday afternoon at .

The Whalers won all three games this weekend by a combined scored of 23-5 (8-4 in Guelph on Friday, 8-0 against Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday) and are now 13-6-2-1, good for 29 points. Plymouth remains in third place in the Western Conference and one point behind first-place Sarnia (13-3-1-3, 30 points), who won, 4-2, in Mississauga on Sunday.

Erie remains last in the Western Conference with a record of 3-16-0-0.

In all, Rakell had two goals (10-11) and two assists and was +3 as the game’s first star. Noesen scored twice (4-5), added an assist and was +3 as the game’s second star. Andy Bathgate scored a goal (7) and added two assists as the game’s third star. Jamie Devane (7) and Alex Aleardi (11) scored single goals for Plymouth. Meurs contributed two assists and was +3 in the game.

Stephen Harper scored the only Erie goal, his sixth of the season.

In goal, Matt Mahalak stopped 33 of 34 shots for Plymouth in recording his sixth win of the season. Mahalak leads the OHL with a 1.84 goals against average and a .939 save percentage.

The Whalers wasted no time in taking the lead when Rakell scored at 1:16 of the first period. On the play, Garrett Meurs carried the puck to the right circle in the Erie zone and found Rakell in the left circle. Rakell beat Erie goaltender Ramis Sadikov with a low backhand shot.

Devane made it 2-0 at 7:50 of the period, finishing a play started by Bathgate, who carried the puck to the right hash mark in the Erie zone, made Sadikov commit, then fed the puck across to Devane, who scored from the left circle.

Plymouth blew the game open in the second period with four answered goals in while outshooting Erie, 22-7. Noesen scored his first of the afternoon, set up by J.T.Miller, who worked the puck from behind the goal to Noesen in front of the Erie net, who scored with a quick one-timer at 2:49. Aleardi made it 4-0 on a play at 6:54 set up by defenseman Colin MacDonald, who took a well-placed shot from the right point. Aleardi re-directed the puck from the hash marks into the Erie net. 46 seconds later, at 7:40, Rakell scored his second goal of the day, picking up the puck in front of the Erie goal, skated wide right, made Sadikov commit, then snapped the puck into the goal.

At that point, Erie head coach Robbie Ftorek called a time-out and spent the time talking to goaltender Sadikov. But Plymouth kept the pressure on, and Bathgate scored his first of the afternoon at 15:32 to give Plymouth a 6-0 lead. Aleardi carried the puck from the high slot in the Erie zone, then cut to his right and found Bathgate at the side of the goal.

Trailing 6-0 into the third period, Erie ruined Mahalak’s bid for a shutout when Harper scored on a rebound from the right wing side of the Plymouth net. Noesen completed the scoring at 5:51, skating from the left circle to the left goal line, and then stuffed the puck past Sadikov.

Plymouth outshot Erie, 53-34.

The Whalers hit the road in their next two games, playing in Windsor on Thursday (6:50 p.m., 88.1FM WSDP) and in London on Friday (7:20 p.m., 88.1FM WSDP) before returning home next Saturday to host Kitchener on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Compuware Arena.

BY THE NUMBERS:  The last time Plymouth scored at least 23 goals in at least a three-game winning streak happened during the Whalers Championship year of 2006-07. Plymouth defeated Erie, 10-1, on Feb. 2, 2007 (72 shots on goal in the game); beat London, 7-3 on Feb. 3; then defeated Owen Sound, 6-3, on Feb. 9.  The winning streak continued for three more games after that.