OHL Roundup: Spitfires and Whalers winners in Comerica Park doubleheader

DETROIT - The Windsor Spitfires defeated the Saginaw Spirit 6-5 on Sunday in the Ontario Hockey League's first regular season outdoor game in league history.

The two clubs played at Comerica Park as part of the Hockeytown Winter Festival in Detroit and were the first game of a doubleheader, which also had the London Knights face the Plymouth Whalers as a lead up to the NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings.

Windsor scored four straight goals in the second period to erase an early two-goal lead held by Saginaw.

Ben Johnson, Steven Janes, Brody Milne, Slater Koekkoek, Remy Giftopoulos and Christiano DiGiacinto scored for the Spitfires (23-12-1) and Brady Vail chipped in with three assists.

Justin Sefton, Brandon Prophet, Daniel De Sousa, Eric Locke and Jeremiah Addison supplied the scoring for Saginaw (16-16-5) and Kristoff Kontos tacked on two assists.

Alex Fotinos started in net for Windsor and gave up two goals on 13 shots in 20 minutes of action. Dalen Kuchmey came in to start the second period and turned away 21-of-23 shots to earn the victory.

Nikita Serebryakov made 23 saves for the Spirit.

Windsor went 3 for 6 on the power play while Saginaw went 3 for 10.

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WHALERS 2 KNIGHTS 1 (SO)

DETROIT, Mich. — Alex Nedeljkovic made 44 saves, and Francesco Vilardi scored Plymouth's second goal of the shootout to give the Whalers their win over London.

Plymouth's Mathieu Henderson opened the scoring in the outdoor game at Detroit's Comerica Park at 1:38 of the third period.

Chris Tierney tied it for the Knights (25-7-4) with a power play goal, his 20th of the season, at 17:46.

Jake Patterson made 25 saves for London.

The Knights were 1 for 4 with the man advantage, while the Whalers (13-20-4) were 0 for 3.

Attendance for the OHL outdoor doubleheader was 26,384.

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STORM 5 OTTERS 2

GUELPH, Ont. — Adam Craievich scored once and set up two more as Guelph downed Erie for its fourth win in a row.

Chadd Bauman, Justin Auger, Jason Dickinson and Robby Fabbri also scored for the Storm (26-7-3), who are now just four points behind the Otters for top spot in the Midwest Division.

Connor Brown scored both goals for Erie (29-7-1), which is winless in three games for the first time this season.

Justin Nichols made 28 saves for Guelph while Devin Williams stopped 31-of-35 shots in a losing cause.

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BULLS 9 FRONTENACS 6

KINGSTON, Ont. — Remi Elie and Cameron Brace combined for six goals and 13 points as Belleville toppled the Frontenacs.

Elie scored three times and added four assists for the Bulls (10-22-4) and Brace had three goals and three assists.

Jordan Subban scored once and set up three goals for Belleville while Niki Petti and Stephen Harper had a goal apiece.

Samuel Schutt had a pair of goals for Kingston (19-12-4) and Darcy Greenaway, Conor McGlynn, Sam Bennett and Spencer Watson each scored once.

Charlie Graham made 31 saves for the Bulls. Matt Mahalak started in net for the Frontenacs but was pulled after allowing four goals on 14 shots in 25 minutes of action. Lucas Peressini took the loss, stopping 15-of-19 shots in relief.

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COLTS 5 STEELEADS 3

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Erik Bradford had a goal and two assists as Barrie defeated the Steelheads.

Andreas Athanasiou, Mitchell Theoret, Liam Maaskant and Jake Dotchin also scored for the Colts (19-14-3) and Andrew Mangiapane had two assists.

Mississauga (15-19-4) got goals from Josh Burnside, Bryson Ciafrone and Dylan Smoskowitz.

Barrie's Daniel Gibl made 25 saves for the win as Spencer Martin turned away 29-of-33 shots for the Steelheads.

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GREYHOUNDS 3 WOLVES 1

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Sergey Tolchinsky's power-play goal at 19:58 of the first period stood up as the winner as the Greyhounds snapped Sudbury's nine-game win streak.

Jean Dupuy opened the scoring for Sault Ste. Marie (25-8-4) early in the first and Patrick Watling added a shorthanded goal midway through the third period.

Matthew Campagna put the Wolves (19-10-6) on the board at 8:45 of the first.

Matt Murray made 20 saves for the Greyhounds while Sudbury's Franky Palazzese turned away 20-of-23 shots in a losing cause.

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ATTACK 3 STING 2 (SO)

SARNIA, Ont. — Sting netminder Taylor Dupuis stopped 42 shots through 65 minutes, but Gemel Smith and Holden Cook beat him in the shootout as Owen Sound edged the Sting.

Justin Brack and Kurtis Gabriel scored in regulation for Owen Sound (19-12-6) and Kurtis MacDermid assisted on both.

Nikolay Goldobin did all the scoring for Sarnia (12-20-4), which has dropped back-to-back contests.

Brandon Hope made 16 saves for the Attack.

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GENERALS 6 67'S 3

OSHAWA, Ont. — Michael Dal Colle scored twice and set up one more and Cole Cassels had three assists as the Generals doubled up Ottawa to end their four-game winless streak.

Colin Suellentrop had a goal and two assists for Oshawa (25-10-3) while Stephen Desrocher, Hunter Smith and Will Petschenig each scored once.

The 67's (12-20-3) got goals from Ryan Van Stralen, Jospeh Blandisi and John Urbanic.

Daniel Altshuller made 26 saves for the Generals as Philippe Trudeau stopped 32-of-38 shots for Ottawa.

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