Whalers beat London Knights in shootout at Comerica Park

By Matt Mackinder – 

DETROIT – Three periods of hockey and an overtime period wasn’t enough Sunday night outdoors at Comerica Park as the Plymouth Whalers defeated the London Knights 2-1 in a thrilling shootout.

Plymouth goalie and top NHL prospect Alex Nedeljkovic made 44 saves to pick up the win, while Mathieu Henderson scored early in the third period for the Whalers’ lone goal.

In the shootout, Francesco Vilardi’s goal was the difference-maker in the fourth round and then Nedeljkovic stopped Ryan Rupert on London’s next chance.

“Joy, happiness,” said Nedeljkovic of his emotions in making the stop on Rupert. “Tonight, whether it was a shootout or overtime or regulation, we wanted a win and any way we got it would have been a good feeling. To play the Knights and beat them in a shootout, words can’t describe what that feels like.

“This win can do tremendous things for our confidence. We’re going to take this game and not gloat about it and say, ‘Oh, we beat the Knights,’ but we’re going to take this game and learn from it and use it to keep the fire going.”

The game was scoreless through the first two periods before Henderson scored at 1:38 on a goal that was originally credited to Danny Vanderwiel.

Mitch Jones then took an interference penalty in the crease at 17:12 and London cashed in on the ensuing penalty as Chris Tierney beat Nedeljkovic at 17:46.

In the overtime, Plymouth defender Josh Wesley was whistled for a check from behind, again near Nedeljkovic, but the Whalers killed off the penalty.

“The team bailed me out,” said Wesley. “’Ned’ was just standing on his head and we’ve come to rely on him and doing what we can to help me out.”

Plymouth coach Mike Vellucci was pleased with the win, the team’s second straight, and hopes it serves as a boost for the Whalers’ next game New Year’s Eve in Windsor.

“Any win is good right now,” said Vellucci. “We had a tough stretch recently where we lost four or five shootouts and now we’ve won our last two shootouts, so that’s helpful.

“We’ve won our last two and that’s a good streak for us right now. We have a young team and this building was tough to play in tonight. The conditions weren’t bad and our guys were nervous, but it was exciting to play and London is a very good team.”

Jake Patterson, a one-time Plymouth draft pick, finished with 25 saves for London.