Whalers dispatch Spirit, 4-2
No head coach, no alternate
captain, no problem for the visiting Plymouth Whalers Friday night.
A deep, talented Plymouth squad skated into The Dow Event
Center's Wendler Arena and wore down the Saginaw
Spirit 4-2 before a crowd of 3,613.
Plymouth head coach and former Detroit Red
Wings goalie Greg Stefan, who was slapped with an eight-game suspension for his part
in a line brawl in Kingston in the Whalers last game, watched
Friday night's game from the stands.
In the contest on Kingston's ice last Sunday, captain Wes Cunningham suffered an injury to a finger that
required surgery and just might have ended the over-ager's
Ontario Hockey League career.
But despite the loss of the
20-year-old defenseman and two other key players, who were suspended for their
parts in the brawl in Kingston, the Whalers jumped in front 4-1 and
were never really threatened.
"We had nothing out
there," Saginaw head coach Todd Watson said after watching his team play
its second game in 24 hours. "Do I think our guys were tired? Yes. We were
willing, trying, but it just wasn't there (physically)."
The loss snapped a
three-game Saginaw (26-22-4-2) winning streak, but the Spirit, who remain at 58
points, didn't lose any ground to Owen Sound (20-31-2-3) in the battle for the
eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. That's because Sudbury stopped the Attack 6-3, Friday
night, keeping Owen Sound 13 points behind Saginaw.
The Spirit, however, did
lose a chance to leapfrog over Guelph (25-1-5-4, 59 points) into seventh
place because Kitchener edged the Storm 3-2 Friday night.
Ryan Daniels was in net
again for Saginaw, and while his defense let him down on two of the goals with
turnovers resulting in Plymouth scores, Watson said his 19-year-old netminder didn't help himself, either.
"Ryan didn't play his
best game," Watson said. "But we didn't help him, either."
Adam Comrie
and Chris Chappell helped out with goals, but that was all the offense the
Spirit could muster against Plymouth goalie Jeremy Smith. The Whalers' netminder
came into the game third in the league in save percentage, and turned aside 28
of 30 Saginaw shots.
The goal post, however, was
his best friend midway through the second period with Plymouth in front 3-1 after two power-play goals and a shorthanded
tally in the opening 20 minutes.
First, Chappell and then
Jack Combs on the same power-play clanged shots squarely off a post behind
Smith.
"Those things happen in
hockey; there's nothing you can do about it," Watson said.
"We basically laid an
egg," Saginaw captain Ryan McDonough countered. "We just couldn't
finish our chances; that's what it came down to. The team that's willing to
bear down and get dirty in front of the net is usually the team that
wins."
Saginaw overage defenseman Garrett Sinfield noted "we just need to regroup and come back
against a really good team in Kitchener."
The OHL-leading Rangers take
on the Spirit at 2 p.m. Sunday.
"I'm not making
excuses, we haven't played well at home in the last two games," Watson
said. "We have work to do tomorrow (in practice) to get ready to play a
Memorial Cup contender." v
Mark Constantine is a sports reporter for
The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9769.