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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, January 29, 2010

McRAE’S OT GAME-WINNER GIVES WHALERS SIX-GAME WINNING STREAK

Whalers now 30-20-0-1, bring in London on Saturday at 7:05pm at Compuware Arena

(Above) AJ Jenks celebrates with Phil McRae after he scored the game-winning goal. (Below) Tyler Seguin started the scoring for the Whalers in the second period.

PLYMOUTH, MI — Phil McRae’s goal 39 seconds into overtime stood as the game-winning goal as the Plymouth Whalers won their sixth straight game, 2-1, over the Brampton Battalion before a good crowd of 3,065 Friday night at Compuware Arena.

Plymouth is now 30-20-0-1 and remains in fourth place in the OHL’s Western Conference playoff race with 61 points, eight points ahead of fifth place Sault Ste. Marie (24-20-1-4) and seven points behind third place Kitchener (32-14-2-2), who defeated Sudbury, 5-2, tonight. Brampton is now 17-21-7-4.

On the game-winning goal, McRae skated into the Brampton zone on the left wing and snapped a shot past Battalion goaltender Patrick Killeen, who appeared to be screened by his own defenseman and reacted late on the shot.

“I really didn’t have much of an option (on the play), except to fire it on the net,” McRae said. “So I just tried to get it through the defenseman's legs and I think he screened his own goalie a little bit.”

The game was scoreless but featured excellent goaltending between Killeen and Plymouth goaltender Scott Wedgewood for the first 39 minutes. Plymouth took a 1-0 with 49 seconds left in the second period as the forward line of Tyler Seguin, Robbie Czarnik and Tyler Brown went to work in the Brampton zone. Brown checked Battalion defenseman Brad Albert hard along the left boards and the puck skipped free to Czarnik, who skated to the lower rim of the left circle. Czarnik fed the puck across to Seguin on the right wing, who one-timed the puck quickly by Killeen for his 36th goal of the year and league-leading 82nd point of the season.

“We have a lot of speed as a line, so we definitely want to utilize it,” Brown said. “I drive to the net and Czarnik and Seguin set up each other.”

Brampton tied the game at 1-1 at 7:22 of the third period on Stephon Thorne’s shot from the left wing that eluded Wedgewood. The goal was Thorne’s tenth of the year.

That set the stage for McRae’s game-winner (his 14th of the year), which was the only shot of the overtime. Plymouth outshot Brampton, 31-23.

Plymouth’s current six-game winning streak is the longest since last season, when the Whalers won six in a row from February 6-20.

In their next game, the Whalers host London (35-12-0-2) tomorrow night at 7:05pm at Compuware Arena. 

For information on Whalers ticket packages, including the Bob Evans' Great Save 4 for $44 Pack, or to plan a group event, visit plymouthwhalers.com or call 734-453-8400.

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PLYMOUTH WHALERS: Compuware Arena | 14900 Beck Rd. | Plymouth, MI  48170 | phone: 734-453-8400 | fax: 734-453-4201

MEDIA CONTACTS: Pete Krupsky, Director of Communications, 734-453-8400 x62513, peterk@plymouthwhalers.com

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