Whalers Too Much for Spitfires in 5-1 Win

Video provided by www.plymouthwhalers.com.

The biggest crowd of the season at - 4,093 - saw the Plymouth Whalers lead from start to finish in a 5-1 victory over the Windsor Spitfires on Saturday night.

The Whalers improve to 35-13-2-1, good for 73 points and first place in the Ontario Hockey League's West Division (17 points ahead of second place Sarnia) and second place in the Western Conference.  Plymouth is four points behind London (38-11-0-1, 77 points), who defeated Mississauga, 5-2, on Saturday.

Leading the way for the Whalers were two players who sat much of the third period on Friday in Plymouth's 4-1 loss in Sarnia.

Video: See highlights of this game.

First star Jamie Devane scored twice (16-17) and led an excellent Plymouth penalty killing effort that killed off six straight Spitfire power plays until Windsor's Kerby Rychel scored with 1:36 left in regulation with the game not in doubt.  Andy Bathgate scored the game-winning goal late in the first period (18) and assisted on Devane's first goal of the game.

Second star Rickard Rakell also scored twice for Plymouth (24-25).  Whalers goaltender Scott Wedgewood was solid again, stopping 34-of-35 Windsor shots to improve his won-loss record to 19-7-2-1.

The Whalers continue to dominate the West Division, improving to 16-2-2-1 in games against Windsor, Sault Ste. Marie, Sarnia and Saginaw.

Plymouth's depth was a factor tonight in wearing down the Spitfires.

With regulars Nick Malysa, Mitchell Heard and Tom Wilson out of the lineup with minor injuries, the Whalers received a boost from rookies Matt Mistele, Mitchell Dempsey, Danny Vanderwiel and Mitch Jones (+3), who all saw regular shifts and played well.

After Devane gave Plymouth a 1-0 lead with a power play goal batting in a rebound at 4:58 of the first period, Mistele teamed up with linemate Alex Aleardi to set up Bathgate for the eventual game-winning goal at 17:12 of the first period.  Mistele kept the play alive through traffic in the Windsor zone at the right hashmark and found Bathgate in the left circle, who wired a well-placed shot, top-shelf, inside the right post.

"The puck was bobbling in my feet a little bit, so I kicked it to my stick and got my head up," Mistele said.  "I saw Bather standing there and he made a great shot.  It was nice, getting points and battling for my linemates."

Rakell made it 3-0 with the only goal of the second period at 5:38, beating Windsor starting goaltender John Cullen with a hard shot from the right circle that pinged inside the left post.

Plymouth pulled away for good in the third period.  Rakell scored his second of the night at 9:39 of the third period on the power play, snapping a shot from the high slot. Devane closed the Plymouth scoring on backup Windsor goaltender Jaroslav Pavelka at 13:18 of the period, pulling away from a Windsor defender in the high slot in the Windsor zone and scoring on a back hand.

Pavelka was inserted in the game after Cullen was ejected at 11:50 of the third period for trying to start a fight with Plymouth's Garrett Meurs.  

Although the shots were even at 35 aside, the Whalers had a clear territorial edge for much of the game.

As a rookie on a one of the best teams in the OHL, Mistele understands his role.

"I know there's a bunch of great players on this team," Mistele said. "I'm one of the younger guys on the team, so I'm trying to work as hard as I can in practice.  Practices are my games - I'm trying to do all the little things in practice and work hard off the ice.  I know I'll get my chance in the next year, so I'm trying to stay positive.  All the older guys - Tom Wilson and my roomate Cody Payne - are telling me to stay positive, do the little things and have fun.  So that's what I'm trying to do."

Video: Interview with Matt Mistele.

As a veteran playing in his final season in the OHL, Devane understands his role and where the Whalers can go with hard work.

"Our penalty kill was great tonight and 'Wedge' was amazing," Devane said.  "We weren't happy with our performace last night.  Tonight was a good rebound and we have to keep it going.  The young guys (Mistele, Jones, Vanderwiel and Dempsey) show how good they are and how deep our team is."

Video: Interview with first star Jamie Devane.

The Whalers play in London on Friday in a showdown with the top-rated Knights (7:15 p.m., WSDP-FM, 88.1) before returning home next weekend to host Kitchener on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and Saginaw on Sunday at 2 p.m. at .