Whalers Beat Saginaw, 6-3, on Monday

Published on January 15, 2007 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Plymouth Whalers News Release


PLYMOUTH - Daniel Ryder's goal at 6:55 of the third snapped a 3-3 tie and the Plymouth Whalers went on to defeat the Saginaw Spirit, 6-3, in an Ontario Hockey League game played Monday afternoon before 3,323 at the Compuware Sports Arena.

Ryder - acquired by Plymouth last Wednesday from Peterborough at the OHL Trading Deadline - now has three goals and three assists for six points in three games with Plymouth, all Whaler victories. Dan Collins scored twice for Plymouth and now has 16 goals on the season. Andrew Fournier (11) and Jared Boll (19) added single goals for the Whalers. Patrick Asselin scored twice for Saginaw and now has 19 goals on the season while Tom Pyatt added one and has 23 on the season.

The Whalers outshot Saginaw, 45-34, and won the battle of special teams. Plymouth - the OHL's top team on the penalty kill at 87.0 percent - stopped all seven Saginaw power plays while going 3-for-9 on their own power plays. Plymouth goaltender Michael Neuvirth stopped 31-of-34 Saginaw shots to get his fifth victory against Saginaw this season. Marc-Andre Perron played in his first game against the Whalers this year for Saginaw and stopped 39-of-44 shots.

Plymouth remains in first place in the OHL West with a record of 29-11-1-2, good for 61 points, four points ahead of second-place Sarnia (26-12-2-3) and seven points ahead of third-place Saginaw (26-15-0-2).

Since moving into early November with a record of 8-9-0-0, the Whalers have gone 21-2-1-2, gaining 45 out a possible 52 points.

Asselin (0:27) and Fournier (13:43) traded rebound shots for goals in the first period and the game was tied 1-1 after twenty minutes. Collins then scored two power play goals in a span of 42 seconds in the second period to give the Whalers a 3-1 lead. Ryder and Sean O'Connor (Brownstown) assisted on both goals - one goal, a shot from the high slot, the other, a one-timer from the right face-off circle. But Saginaw came back to tie the game at 3-3 with a pair of goals 11 seconds apart. At 10:55 of the second period, Asselin tipped Hotham's low shot from the right point past Neuvirth. Then Pyatt tapped home Ryan Berard's feed from behind the Plymouth net to the crease area past Neuvirth to tie the game at 3-3 after forty minutes of play.

Ryder scored the game-winning goal with the teams skating four-on-four at 6:55 of the third period when he took the puck in neutral territory and wristed a shot from just outside the Saginaw blue line that Perron got a pad on, but the puck caromed off the left post and into the net. Whalers made it 5-3 at 10:55 when Boll tipped Wes Cunningham's low shot from the left point past Perron at the left doorstep.

Saginaw head coach Bob Mancini pulled Perron for the extra attacker with 1:14 remaining, but Ryder closed the scoring when his shot from center ice went into the empty net.

Plymouth has won five of the seven game played with Saginaw so far this season. With one game remaining between the two teams, Plymouth wins the Meijer Cup this season, which goes to the winner of the Plymouth-Saginaw season series.

Plymouth plays in Sault Sault Ste. Marie on Friday before returning home Saturday night to host Sarnia at 7:05 p.m. at the Compuware Sports Arena on Team Autograph Night. Tickets are available by calling the Compuware Sports Arena at (734) 453-8400 at by going to Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central