Whalers secure tiebreaker spot with OT win

NEWS RELEASE

CANADIAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

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Whalers close out win in overtime VANCOUVER, Tuesday, May 22, 2007 – Andrew Fournier kept the Whalers’ MasterCard Memorial Cup hopes alive when he scored the game-winner in the first few minutes of overtime to give Plymouth a 2-1 win. Of note, it was the second time in tournament history that two teams from the United States battled in a Memorial Cup game – the first being Spokane vs. Portland on May 14, 1998.

There was no scoring in the first two periods as both backstops – Jonathan Bernier of the MAINEiacs and Michal Neuvirth of the Whalers - demonstrated that they were on top of their game.

Lewiston appeared to have scored the first goal of the contest at the 5:07 mark of the third frame, but the goal was disallowed after it was determined that forward Stefan Chaput had knocked the puck in the net with his glove.

Nevertheless, Lewiston kept coming and Simon Courcelles registered the first goal of the game with just over five minutes remaining in the period thanks to a nifty pass off the stick of teammate David Perron. But the Whalers tied it up with a shorthanded marker with less than two minutes remaining.

Jonathan Bernier, who has been spectacular over the course of the tournament, made 37 saves in the loss. He was named the game’s first star for a third time in three games. “It’s disappointing,” he said. “We had a couple of chances to end it, but it just didn’t happen for us.”

Plymouth Whalers’ head coach, Michael Vellucci, remained positive even though his team was trailing by one goal late in the game. “The guys showed a lot of character. It just seems that we need our backs to be up against the wall for us to come up big,” he mentioned.

On Wednesday, the Medicine Hat Tigers will face the Vancouver Giants at 7:30 PT / 10:30 ET on Rogers Sportsnet, RDS and INSINC.

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