Stefan Noesen’s goal at 17:05 of the third period snapped a 3-3 tie and the Plymouth Whalers defeated the Kingston Frontenacs, 4-3, in an Ontario Hockey League game played Saturday night at Compuware Arena.

  The Whalers (now 17-10-1-1) have won four in a row, eight of their last nine and stand 12-3-0-0 since Oct. 30.

  Noesen’s game-winning goal and 14th of the season was set up by an excellent forecheck by linemate Garrett Meurs, who dove to the puck in the right circle in the Kingston zone and stripped it from a Frontenacs defender.  The puck pinballed to Noesen and he rifled the shot from the hashmarks past Kingston goaltender Franky Palazzese.

  “Garrett’s a hard battler in the corners,” Noesen said of the game-winning goal.  “He cleanly picked the puck from the guy.  Even though he fell, he took the guy with him and I let it (the shot) go and it went top shelf.  Any shot is a good shot, especially with the ‘d’ screening.  So I just let it go.”

  Jamie Devane (4^th), Robbie Czarnik (12^th) and Rickard Rakell (14^th) scored the other Plymouth goals. Brett Morgan (first OHL goal), Ryan Spooner (17^th) and Mitch Lebar (9^th) replied for Kingston.

  Saturday’s game was notable for a couple of reasons.  Referees Brad Beer and Sean Reid called just one penalty all night – a penalty to the Whalers for too many men on the ice at 13:12 of the second period. The Whalers have played two “no-hitters” or penalty-free games in their history – March 24, 2000 in a 5-1 loss at London and February 3, 2003 in a 4-3 loss in Brampton.

  In addition, Kingston dressed just four defensemen in the game as defensemen Mitch Gaulton and Jeff Brathwaite were injured and Erik Gudbranson was suspended.  Patrick Harrison, Taylor Doherty, Alex Gudbranson and Michal Cajkovsky all logged major minutes on the Frontenacs blue line.

  The teams traded a goal aside in the first period. Morgan scored his first OHL goal at 7:35 of the period, moving from the behind the Plymouth net to the lower rim of the right circle to beat Plymouth goaltender Scott Wedgewood.  The Whalers tied the game at 9:00 on Devane’s one-timer from the slot, set up by James Livingston.

  Plymouth’s speed and forecheck started to wear down the Frontenacs defense in the second period and the Whalers built a 3-1 lead.  Czarnik scored his second goal in two nights from the left hash mark at 4:51, set up by Alex Aleardi.  Then Rakell picked up a loose puck at the right circle after it pinballed off a scrum of players in the slot and bounced to him at 16:50.

  The Whalers outshot Kingston, 19-10, in the second period, but Kingston scored on their last shot of the period on Spooner’s re-direct at the side of the Plymouth goal with just two seconds remaining in the period.

  Plymouth continued to pressure in the third period, outshooting Kingston, 17-12, but Lebar tied the game on a scramble through traffic in front of Wedgewood at 10:26.

  That set the stage for Noesen’s game-winning goal.

  Trailing by one, Kingston head coach Doug Gilmour called a time-out and pulled Palazzese with one minute remaining, but the Whalers were able to kill off the remaining time of the game.

  Plymouth outshot Kingston, 43-32, in the game.

  The Whalers continue to enjoy excellent offensive balance.  Four different Plymouth players scored goals tonight and five different players (Noesen, Czarnik, Aleardi, Rakell and Tyler Brown) all have at least 25 points through 29 games.

  “It’s very good when we have all of us going at once,” Noesen said.  “In the first two periods, three different lines had goals.”

  Plymouth plays in Saginaw (20-6-3-1) on Sunday at 4pm against the top-ranked Spirit at the Dow Event Center (3:50pm, www.plymouthwhalers.com). The Whalers play on the road all of next week, playing in Barrie next Thursday, Oshawa next Friday and Belleville next Saturday. 

  Plymouth’s next home game is after Christmas on Tues. Dec. 28 at 2pm at Compuware Arena against Erie in the Whalers annual Kid’s Day game.  Tickets are available by calling (734) 453-8400.