ST. THOMAS, ON – Tom Wilson’s second goal of the game with 0:20 remaining and the goaltender pulled brought the Plymouth Whalers back from a 3-2 deficit and the Whalers earned a 3-3 tie with the London Knights in an Ontario Hockey League preseason game played Saturday night before 1,260 at the Timken Community Centre.

The Whalers complete the preseason at 1-1-2.

Garrett Meurs scored the other Plymouth goal.  Josh Anderson, Andreas Athanasiou and Colin Martin scored for London.

Plymouth rookie goaltender Jake Patterson played in his second consecutive game for the Whalers and performed well in stopping 45-of-48 shots.  Rookie goaltender Knick Dawe stopped 33-of-36 shots for London.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the third period, London took their first lead of the game when Martin tipped Dan Morin’s hard shot from the slot at 18:40 past Patterson.  Plymouth Associate Coach Joe Stefan pulled Patterson for the extra attacker with 55 seconds left and the move worked when Wilson ripped a low shot from the slot through traffic to tie the game.

The Whalers had an opportunity to win the game when time expired when the referees ruled the Knights intentionally knocked their net off the moorings with Plymouth pressuring in the final seconds of play.  Plymouth’s Michael Whaley took the penalty shot and pinged the puck off the right post to end the game.

For the second straight game, both teams played with short benches.  The Whalers played without a host of players away at National Hockey League Rookie tournaments, including Matt Mahalak, Austin Levi and Beau Schmitz (Carolina in Traverse City, MI), J.T. Miller (New York Rangers in Traverse City), Curtis Crombeen (Dallas in Traverse City), Mitchell Heard (Toronto in Oshawa, ON) and Stefan Noesen (Ottawa in Oshawa, ON).  The other Plymouth scratches included Nick Malysa and Jared Dennis.

In addition, Rickard Rakell leaves for Anaheim on Sunday, Garrett Meurs for Colorado on Sunday and Scott Wedgewood leaves for New Jersey on Tuesday.

Plymouth took a 2-0 lead after one period of play.  Meurs scored at 11:54 of the first period when Whaley flipped the puck in the air from center ice into the London zone and Meurs beat London defender to the puck and the left wing side of the Knights goal and scored on a backhand shot.  Wilson made it 2-0 at 15:31 after Dario Trutmann’s shot from the left point was knocked down but caromed directly to Wilson at the left circle.  He scored with a quick one-timer.

London tied the game with a pair of goals in the second period. Anderson scored at 11:54 with a shot from the left circle and Anthanasiou scored a shorthanded goal at 19:19 when he chased down a loose puck in the Plymouth slot and beat Patterson with a backhand shot, five-hole.

That set the stage for a wild final two minutes of the third period.

London outshot Plymouth, 48-36, in a game that took two hours to play.

More coverage: Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press.

ROOKIE TOURNAMENT UPDATE: The Toronto Sun has the story of Jamie Devane's opening game for Toronto.  Carolina loses its opening game to Dallas, 8-2 (story courtesy of the Carolina Hurricanes).  The New Rangers win their opening game, 5-2. (NY Rangers)

Follow the Traverse City Tournament here. 

Follow the Leafs in Oshawa here.

Ottawa opens its Rookie Tournament with a 4-0 win.