Power Play Key in 3rd Win
On Saturday night at the Compuware Arena in Plymouth, the Storm faced off against the Whalers for the first time this season. Guelph’s powerplay was the story of the night as the Storm buried three with the man advantage to win their third in a row 5-3. Thomas McCollum made 34 saves in the win.
Plymouth jumped on the scoreboard early in the first scoring at 4:44 of the opening frame. Whaler forward Patrick Lee deflected a shot past Thomas McCollum for the early one goal lead. Storm captain Matt Kennedy countered on the power play with less than eight minutes remaining in the opening frame. With Ryan Hayes in the box for goaltender interference, Tim Priamo and Matt Kennedy banged away at the lose puck in front. The puck bounced out to the high slot where Kennedy finally buried it past Jeremy Smith for the Storm’s first of the game. The game remained locked at one heading into the first intermission.
The second period was all Guelph as the Storm jumped out to a two goal lead off tallies by Peter Holland and Luke Pither. Holland found the back of the net just over five minutes into the middle frame with Brandon Buck, playing in his first game back from Nashville camp, and Taylor Beck picking up the helpers. On the goal, Plymouth netminder Jeremy Smith slid to his right following the play while Holland went to his backhand, sliding the puck into the wide open net. Luke Pither scored the Storm’s second powerplay goal of the game, capitalizing on the man advantage just over ten minutes after Holland gave Guelph the lead. With Plymouth defenceman Beau Schmitz in the box for checking from behind, Pither snapped a high shot past Smith off a pretty centering pass from Tim Priamo to move the Storm ahead of the Whalers 3-1.
The Whalers made it interesting-pulling within one to start the final frame-as Ryan Hayes beat McCollum just over five minutes into the third. The Storm didn’t back down as overager Tim Priamo countered with two tallies, including the third power play marker of the night, less than five minutes apart to give the Storm their first three goal lead of the game. With one last ditch effort, Plymouth’s Chris Terry cut out in front of the net and beat McCollum five-hole at the 14:21 mark to cut the Storm’s lead to 5-3. The two goal deficit was too much for the Whalers to overcome as the Storm would go on to win their third in a row 5-3.
Guelph’s Tim Priamo and Luke Pither were named the game’s first and second stars respectively while Plymouth defenceman Michal Jordan was awarded with the third star.
Next up, the Storm travel back to Guelph to take on the London Knights at the Sleeman Centre Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm. For more information or to purchase tickets visit or contact the Guelph Storm Box office at 519-837-9690.
Guelph Storm 5 at Plymouth Whalers 3 – Status: Final
Sep 27, 2008 – Compuware Arena
1st Period
Scoring – 1. Plymouth, P. Lee (1) (M. Jordan, T. Brown) 4:44
2. Guelph, M. Kennedy (2) (T. Priamo, L. Pither) 12:13 PP
Penalties – T. Seguin Ply (hooking) 6:06, R. Hayes Ply (inter. on goaltender) 11:22, C. Terry Ply (slashing, inter. on goaltender) 14:42, T. Beck Gue (hooking) 17:40
2nd Period
Scoring – 3. Guelph, P. Holland (2) (T. Beck, B. Buck) 5:49
4. Guelph, L. Pither (2) (T. Priamo, T. Melancon) 15:10 PP
Penalties – E. Molotilov Gue (cross checking) 7:32, B. Schmitz Ply (checking from behind) 13:34, T. Priamo Gue (tripping) 16:18, C. Syvret Gue (roughing) 16:18, J. Gaynor Ply (cross checking) 17:53
3rd Period
Scoring – 5. Plymouth, R. Hayes (2) (J. Bemis) 5:05
6. Guelph, T. Priamo (1) (C. Syvret, T. Melancon) 9:07 PP
7. Guelph, T. Priamo (2) (L. Pither, M. Kennedy) 11:23
8. Plymouth, C. Terry (1) (T. Seguin, M. Jordan) 14:21
Penalties – B. Buck Gue (slashing) 1:31, T. Brown Ply (interference) 8:52, J. Bemis Ply (checking to the head) 15:30
GUE Shots: 14 16 13 TOTAL: 43
PLY Shots: 11 11 15 TOTAL: 37
Power Play Conversion
Guelph Storm 3-8. Plymouth Whalers 0-5.
Goaltenders
Guelph Storm
McCollum 3-0-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 34 GA: 3 [W]
Plymouth Whalers
Smith 0-1-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 38 GA: 5 [L]
Start : 7:07 PM
End : 9:13 PM
Attendance : 1867
Referee I: Scott Hoberg (13)
Referee II: Mike Pearce (25)
LINESMAN I: Ryan Lachine (81)
LINESMAN II: Jim Scarpace (82)
