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Beau know how to score; Schmitz's pair give Whalers 5-2 win

February 20, 2010 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Plymouth Whalers News Release


PLYMOUTH, MI -- Beau Schmitz scored a pair of goals in the second period to snap a 2-2 tie and the Plymouth Whalers went on to win their third straight game, 5-2, over the Sarnia Sting in an Ontario Hockey League game played Saturday night before 3,010 at Compuware Arena.

The Whalers won their third straight game and 11th out of their last 14 to improve to 35-22-0-2 - the team's best overall record of the year with nine games left in the regular season. Sarnia is now 16-39-3-1.

Besides Schmitz's pair (sixth and seventh on the season), AJ Jenks added his 22nd of the year to go with two assists, Leo Jenner scored his seventh of the season and Tyler Seguin tallied his 43rd of the year. In addition, Robbie Czarnik contributed three assists for Plymouth. Czarnik has 11 goals and 25 assists for 36 points in 34 games since joining the Whalers in late November.

Whalers goaltender Scott Wedgewood stopped 38-of-40 Sarnia shots to improve his record to 5-7-0-0 while raising his save percentage to .917 over 15 games and lowering his goals against average to 3.00. Wedgewood is currently ranked 13th by the National Hockey League's Central Scouting in the mid-term rankings for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft in June.

Tyler Peters (14th) and Brandon Francisco (10th) scored second period goals for Sarnia, who fought back from a 2-0 Whalers lead after one period to tie the game.

The Whalers started scoring early, jumping to a 1-0 lead at 0:19 when Jenks snapped a shot from the high slot over the shoulder of Sarnia goaltender Shayne Campbell and underneath the crossbar. Jenner made it 2-0, working with Czarnik on a give-and-go deep in the Sarnia zone. Jenner carried the puck into Sarnia territory and passed to Czarnik on the left wing. Czarnik feathered a return pass to Jenner in front of the Sarnia goal, who made no mistake with a one-timer at 16:53.

But Sarnia came back to tie the game at 2-2 on power goals by Peters (shot from the left wing through a screen at 5:15) and Francisco (put-back of a rebound from the right circle at 9:02).

That set the stage for two by Schmitz, the first at 12:12 from the right wing with a shot tucked inside the far post from a pass by Josh Brittain, the second at 17:50 on a shot from the right circle that popped the water bottle under the cross bar.

"(On the first goal) I went far side, and to be honest, I was just trying to hit the net," Schmitz said. "The next one (the second goal), I picked the corner. We practice that play a lot, with the pass across and then shooting the puck on net. So I was aiming, but luck was on my side."

The Whalers showed depth in winning, with three skaters tallying three points and Seguin - the OHL's leading scorer - scoring just once, the final goal of the game on a rebound from the slot at 16:31 on a power play.

"Even when the big goal scorers don't score, we've got other guys that can step up," Schmitz said. "It really helped tonight."

Plymouth and Sarnia meet again tomorrow afternoon at 5pm in Sarnia at the RBC Centre (4:50pm, www.plymouthwhalers.com). The Whalers will play in Windsor next Thursday before returning home next Saturday to host Guelph at 7:05pm at Compuware Arena.

For information on Whalers ticket packages, including the Bob Evans' Great Save 4 for $44 Pack, or to plan a group event, visit plymouthwhalers.com or call 734-453-8400.

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