Photo by Rena Laverty - Plymouth’s Sonny Milano scores against Kitchener on Saturday.
PLYMOUTH, MI - After shutting out Windsor, 1-0 on Thursday and Mississauga, 5-0 on Friday, the weekend didn’t end the way the Plymouth Whalers wanted on Saturday.
In a hard fought game in which momentum swung toward both teams at different times, Gustav Frazen’s shorthanded goal at 17:48 of the third period snapped a 3-3 tie and the Kitchener Rangers defeated the Whalers, 5-3, on Saturday at Compuware Arena.
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Plymouth is 6-6-1-0. Kitchener is 6-3-0-3.
Second star Sonny Milano scored his first OHL goal in his second game as a Whaler and added two assists. Milano has a goal and five assists for six points in two games.
Mathew Campagna (sixth) and Matt Mistele (team-leading ninth) also scored for Plymouth.
Besides Franzen, Max Iafrate (second), Dmitri Sergeev (third), Mike Davies (fourth) and first star Brent Pederson (third on the empty net) scored for Kitchener.
Milano scored the only goal of the first period when the Whalers were able to keep the play alive in the Kitchener zone for a sustained period and Milano scored on a scramble at the side of the Rangers goal.
Rangers came back with a pair of goals in the second period, both by defensemen. Iafrate tied the game at 4:55 of the second period, ripping a hard shot that Plymouth goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic got most of, but the puck trickled past him and into the net. Sergeev gave Kitchener their first lead on the power play at 7:16, snapping a shot from the high slot with Pederson in front screening Nedejkovic.
Iafrate’s goal snapped Nedeljkovic’s shutout streak at 151:27, dating back to the third period on Oct. 11 against Peterborough. The mark is sixth on the Whalers all-time list, behind:
182:13 - Rob Zepp - January 21-29, 2000
170:37 - Matt Mahalak - March 13 and 17; April 10 and 24, 2013
164:18 - Michal Neuvirth - Dec. 28, 2006, Jan, 1-Jan. 6, 2007
160:05 - Robert Esche and Scott Holsinger - February 1-7, 1998
156:54 - Paul Drew - November 17-22, 2002
In addition, Nedeljkovic is the sixth goaltender in Whalers franchise histry to record consecutive shutouts, joining Matt Mahalak (2013), Michal Neuvirth (2007), Paul Drew (2002), Rob Zepp (2000) and Jason Saal (1995).
The Whalers tied the game at 2-2 immediately into the third period, when Campagna beat Kitchener goaltender Dawson Carty in close quarters at 0:42.
Kitchener re-took the lead at 3-2 on a goal by Davies while on the rush on the left wing into the Plymouth zone. His shot from the left dot beat Nedeljkovic.
Plymouth fought back to tie the game at 3-3 on Mistele’s power play goal at 11:50. Mistele scored from the lower rim of right circle with Plymouth’s Connor Chatham taking a cross check to the face by Kitchener defenseman Liam Maaskant.
Although the replay clearly showed Masskant getting his stick into Chatham’s face, referees Brett Montsion and Korey Bannerman didn’t call a penalty.
But later, Chatham was called for a penalty for interference at 14:04 when he checked Maaskant directly into the Plymouth bench.
The Whalers killed off Chatham’s penalty and got a power play when Iafrate was called for holding on Chatham at 16:19. And Plymouth pressured throughout much of the power play, but Franzen scored to give Kitchener a 4-3 lead, following up a loose puck in the Plymouth zone and beating Nedeljkovic with a shot that the Whalers goaltender got most off, but it trickled over the line.
Plymouth lead coach Don Elland pulled Nedeljkovic with 1:05 left, but Pederson scored on the empty net to seal the game for Kitchener.
The Whalers hit the road on Thursday, playing in Erie (7 pm, 88.1FM WSDP) against the top rated Otters before returning home next Saturday to host Kingston at 7:05 pm at Compuware Arena.
