from Canadian Press
WINDSOR, Ont. – Adam Henrique, Andrei Loktionov and Dale Mitchell all scored twice as the Windsor Spitfires hammered the Plymouth Whalers 8-1 to take a 2-1 lead in their Ontario Hockey League Western Conference semifinal playoff series.
Henrique opened the scoring just under two minutes into the second period when he one-timed a pass from Justin Shugg on a 2-on-1. After a pair of goals by Loktionov, Mitchell scored his eighth goal of the playoffs to put the Spitfires up by a 4-0 margin after 40 minutes of play.
Mitchell and Henrique both scored their second goals of the game and Greg Nemisz and Taylor Hall also scored to put the game away for Windsor in the final period.
The tone of the game became more physical after Plymouth’s Kaine Geldart received a five-minute match penalty six minutes into the third period for a head check on Loktionov, who did not return to the game. Fights broke out on four separate occasions after the incident.
Beau Schmitz, with is second of the post-season, had the Whalers’ only goal.
Windsor’s Andrew Engelage made 29 saves to pick up the win while Plymouth netminder Matt Hackett was replaced by Scott Wedgewood after surrendering Mitchell’s second goal of the contest. Hackett allowed seven goals on 43 shots, while Wedgewood stopped six of seven.
LONDON, Ont. – Nazem Kadri scored his seventh goal of the playoffs on a power play midway through the second period as the London Knights pushed the Saginaw Spirit to the brink of elimination with a 4-1 win.
The Knights lead the Spirit 3-0 in their Western Conference semifinal series and will have a chance to complete the sweep Tuesday in Saginaw.
Kadri’s goal was his second game-winner of the post-season and puts him one point behind Phil Varone for the team scoring lead. Varone, who opened the scoring late in the first period on Sunday, has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) through eight playoff games.
Matt Clarke and Daniel Erlich also scored for London, which has scored at least four goals in each of its seven playoff victories.
Joe Underwood scored the lone goal for the Spirit, who swept the Guelph Storm in the conference quarter-finals.
Trevor Cann made 21 saves for the Knights, while Saginaw netminder Edward Pasquale stopped 28 shots.
BELLEVILLE, Ont. – Jeremy Smith stopped 50 shots to lift the Niagara IceDogs back into their Eastern Conference semifinal series with a 2-0 victory over the Belleville Bulls.
The Bulls outshot Niagara by a 50-24 margin, including 18-6 in the third period, but Smith held strong to earn his first career OHL shutout.
Chris DeSousa scored both IceDogs goals – the first with under six minutes remaining in the third period and the second into an empty net with seven seconds left.
Mike Murphy made 22 saves for Belleville, which had not been shut out since October 10, 2008 in a 1-0 loss to the Windsor Spitfires.
The series shifts to St. Catharine’s, for game four on Tuesday.
BRAMPTON, Ont. – Michael Pelech had a goal and two assists, while Kaspars Daugavins set up three goals as the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors solved Thomas McCollum to beat the Brampton Battalion 5-1 in Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Brampton, which leads the series 2-1, only allowed one goal in the first two games. McCollum made 21 saves for a shutout in Game 1 and stopped 29 of 30 shots on Friday.
On Sunday, J.P. Anderson stole the show for Mississauga, stopping 35 of 36 shots, the only blemish being an Anthony Peluso goal on the power play at 9:56 of the second period to make it a 4-1 hockey game.
Brett Fleming opened the scoring for the Majors six minutes into the game and Jordan Mayer made it 2-0 in the final minute of the first.
Mississauga continued to dominate just 15 seconds into the second period when Kale Kerbashian surprised McCollum, tucking a wrist shot just under the crossbar. Pelech made it 4-0 at 4:59 before Peluso brought the Battalion to within three. William Wallen rounded out the scoring on the man advantage at 11:08 of the third period.
McCollum finished with 18 saves.