MEDIA NOTE - Catch the rebroadcast of this game on CN-900 on Sunday at 3 pm, Monday at 7 pm, Tuesday at 9 am and Friday at noon.
PLYMOUTH - On the evening of the Plymouth Whalers annual food drive, the Whalers were hungry to break a four-game losing streak.
Plymouth broke their losing streak the old-fashioned way, earning a 2-1 victory over the Niagara IceDogs in an Ontario Hockey League game played Saturday night at Compuware Arena.
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MORE COVERAGE - Tim Smith, Plymouth Observer and Eccentric.
Find out what's happening in Plymouth-Cantonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Plymouth improves to 9-12-1-1. Niagara – with just one win on the road – is 6-16-0-0.
Vince Scognamiglio’s second goal of the season at 14:06 of the third period stood as the game-winner for the Whalers. Set up by second star Cullen Mercer, Scognamiglio’s shot from the left circle deflected off Niagara defenseman Blake Siebenaler’s stick and past IceDogs’ goaltender Brent Moran.
Earlier, Mercer – playing his best all-around game in a Whalers uniform – scored in the first period to give Plymouth a 1-0 lead. He started the goal with a strong defensive play along the right boards in the Niagara zone and found Sonny Milano on the left wing. Milano fed the puck towards Mercer near the high slot, who shot the puck towards the goal and it pinballed around and past Moran at 17:24 of the first period.
Before Mercer’s goal (fourth of the season, all on the power play), the Whalers were outshot, 16-5, but Plymouth goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic was steady as he is on most nights.
Mercer was part of a Plymouth penalty killing revival that contributed to the victory. The Whalers gave up six power play goals on Friday in a 9-3 loss in Guelph, but turned the page dramatically and the penalty killers went 6-for-7 against the IceDogs.
After a three-and-a-half hour bus ride from Guelph – and time to think about the performance on Saturday morning – the Whalers came out with a determined, gritty effort.
“It was our best game of the season,” said Nedeljkovic, who earned the game’s first star in stopping 43-of-44 Niagara shots. “Our penalty killers were in the passing and shooting lanes all night and blocking shots. They made my job easy.”
The Plymouth penalty killers were put to the test after Mercer’s goal and the group responded in the second period, killing off Connor Chatham’s double minor and Sonny Milano’s cross checking penalty later in the period.
Niagara finally tied to game at 1-1 at 2:18 of the third period. After Nedeljkovic stopped Aaron Haydon’s blast from the point, Mikkel Aagaard banged home the rebound from the left circle.
The game turned into a goaltenders’ duel for a time in the third period. Moran made two excellent stops on Plymouth’s Matt Mistele in the third period and the game remained tied until Scognamiglio’s marker.
The game wasn’t over. Plymouth penalty killers went to work again, killing off Bryce Yetman’s delay of game penalty at 15:59.
Niagara head coach Marty Williamson pulled Moran a couple of times over the game’s final 90 seconds, but IceDogs’ Jordan Maletta took a hooking penalty at 19:27 and Niagara could not find an equalizer.
Niagara outshot Plymouth, 44-32.
The Whalers are back in action on Wednesday, hosting the Windsor Spitfires at 7:05 pm at Compuware Arena.
