OHL Playoffs: Whalers vs. Sting, Round One
Eighteen points separate the Plymouth Whalers and Sarnia Sting as they prepare to face each other in the first round of the OHL playoffs beginning on March 22.
SERIES B: PLYMOUTH VS. SARNIA
• Series begins Friday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m. in Plymouth.
How the teams match up:
Plymouth Whalers (42-17-5-4, 93 points — 292 GF, 202 GA)
- Top Scorer: Vincent Trocheck, 50G, 59A, 109 points (including 50 points from his days with Saginaw)
- Another player to watch on the Whalers is right winger Garrett Meurs, who had 65 points (32-33) in 68 games.
- Left wingers Matthew Mistele and Ryan Hartman had 60 points each this season.
- Hartman also led the team with 120 penalty minutes, while Meurs led Plymouth with 13 power play goals.
- Plymouth ended its season with seven wins in the month of March. Most recently, the team defeated Saginaw 7-5 and then followed it up with a win over the Greyhounds, 8-0. They won the last two games of the season over Windsor by scores of 4-3 and 4-0.
Sarnia Sting (35-28-1-4, 75 points, 247 GF, 254 GA)
- Top Scorer: Charles Sarault, 22G, 86A, 108 points
- Reid Boucher had 95 points (62-33) on the season and led the OHL in goals.
- Rookie Nikolay Goldobin was third on the team in points scoring, with 68 on the season. He led all OHL rookies in goals and points.
- Sarnia looks to rebuild after ending the regular season on a four-game losing streak. They dropped a 4-2 decision to Guelph, then a 3-2 game to Saginaw, before losing the final two games of the season to Owen Sound by scores of 4-3 and 4-2.
The Season Series
Plymouth won four of the six meetings between the teams this season, overall outscoring the Sting, 32-18. The Whalers won the first game of the year, a 3-2 victory on November 2. Sarnia won the next two games, 7-4 and 5-4 on November 3 and January 25. Plymouth took the final three meetings of the season by scores of 6-2, 10-2 and 4-0.
SCHEDULE
Game #1: SAR @ PLY | Fri Mar 22 | 7:00 PM
Game #2: SAR @ PLY | Sat Mar 23 | 7:00 PM
Game #3: PLY @ SAR | Mon Mar 25 | 7:00 PM
Game #4: PLY @ SAR | Wed Mar 27 | 7:00 PM
Game #5: SAR @ PLY | Fri Mar 29 | 7:00 PM * if necessary
Game #6: PLY @ SAR | Sat Mar 30 | 7:00 PM * if necessary
Game #7: SAR @ PLY | Tue Apr 2 | 7:00 PM * if necessary