Whalers start strong, then drop pair

The Plymouth Whalers began last weekend with a convincing shutout on Friday night, but then proceeded to lose their next two games to now sit in second place in the OHL’s West Division, two points back of the Saginaw Spirit.

Friday night, Ryan Nie (pictured) made 45 saves as the Whalers beat the Mississauga IceDogs, 4-0. The shutout was Nie’s first this year. Plymouth captain John Vigilante scored two goals, defenseman Steve Ward added a goal and an assist and James Neal also scored for the Whalers. Evan Brophey added two assists for the Whalers.

“As a goaltender you try to approach each game the same,” Nie told the Canadian Press. “I like to see more action. It's easier to stay in the game that way. But all you can do is make the first stop and look to build on it from there.”

Mississauga goalie Michael Ouzas stopped 28 shots for Mississauga.

The Kitchener Rangers then invaded the Compuware Sports Arena Saturday night and dominated the Whalers in a 7-3 win.

Mike Duco scored twice and defenceman Jakub Kindl and overage forward Cory Konecny each scored a goal and two assists while Victor Oreskovich, Nic Spaling and Jean-Michel Rizk each added single goals for Kitchener.

Dan Collins, Jared Boll and Neal replied with third-period goals for Plymouth.

Dan Turple made 23 saves earning the win, while Nie and Jeremy Smith combined for 46 stops. Smith played the third period and stopped 13 shots.

The Rangers out-shot Plymouth, 53-26, and 25-3 in the first period.

Yesterday in Brampton for an afternoon matinee, Battalion captain Wojtek Wolski scored twice to lead Brampton to a 4-3 win.

Luke Lynes and Michael Vernace also scored for the Battalion.

Vigilante, Brophey (first goal as a Whaler) and Ward replied for the Whalers (14-10-1-3).

Daren Machesney finished with 23 saves for the win, while Nie stopped 29 shots in a losing effort.

Plymouth is off until Thursday night when they play in Sarnia. The Whalers’ next home game is Saturday night when they host Owen Sound at 7:30 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Walt Dmoch/Plymouth Whalers.