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windsorspitfires.com staff reports
On a night when several NHL scouts turned out for a big Western Conference showdown, one player stood out above all the rest.
New Jersey Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood made 47 saves in regulation, 10 more in overtime and stopped five attempts in the shootout, as the Plymouth Whalers escaped the WFCU Centre with a 5-4 win on Thursday night.
Tom Kuhnhackl had a pair of goals and Windsor gained a point, moving within two of the Kitchener Rangers in advance of a home-and-home series between the teams starting tomorrow night.
Four different Whalers scored in regulation and Robbie Czarnik had the winner in the shootout. The win moved Plymouth to within a point of Windsor for second in the West Division.
Tied at 1-1, things got interesting early in the second period.
Tyler Brown put Plymouth up 2-1 just 10 seconds into the frame. But Stephen Johnston squared the game just 40 seconds later.
Johnston would later leave after getting hit with a Ryan Ellis point blast.
The teams again traded goals in the second period - Mitchell Heard at 14:53 before Tom Kuhnhackl replied just 15 seconds later.
Stefan Noesen scored on the power play before the period was out, giving Plymouth a 4-3 lead.
The inability to score on the power play came back to haunt the home side - the Spitfires were 0-for-8 on the night.
Tom Kuhnhackl finally solved Wedgewood with just six minutes to play in the third period, forcing overtime. But despite outshooting the Whalers 10-0 in the extra frame, Windsor couldn't find the winner.
Wedgewood's brilliance continued in the shootout. After he stopped Carnevale, Carrick, Kassian, Kuhnhackl and Khokhlachev, Czarnik beat Jack Campbell for the winner with Plymouth's sixth attempt.
SHOTS ON GOAL
WINDSOR - 61, PLYMOUTH - 31
SCORING
FIRST PERIOD
WSR Khokhlachev, (24) (Webermin, MacQueen), 8:50
PLY Meurs, (8) (Czarnik), 18:39
SECOND PERIOD
PLY Brown, (18) (Rakell, Malysa), 0:10
WSR Johnston, (14) (Ryan, Kuhnhackl), 0:50
PLY Heard, (14) (Mahalak, MacDonald), 14:53
WSR Kuhnhackl, (21) , 15:08
PLY Noesen, (23) (Czarnik, Heard), 17:14 (PP)
THIRD PERIOD
WSR Kuhnhackl, (22) (MacQueen, Ryan), 14:52
OVERTIME
NO SCORING
SHOOTOUT
16 G. Meurs Goal
24 R. Rakell No Goal
11 S. Noesen No Goal
15 M. Heard No Goal
26 J. Livingston No Goal
27 R. Czarnik Goal
77 T. Carnevale - No Goal
6 R. Ellis Goal
71 J. Carrick No Goal
19 Z. Kassian No Goal
14 T. Kuhnhackl No Goal
89 A. Khokhlachev No Goal
POWER PLAYS
WINDSOR - O-FOR-8
PLYMOUTH - 1-FOR-4
