Brown's Town

Whalers' Tyler G. Brown caps thrilling home opener with highlight-reel goal

  If at first you don't succeed, do what Plymouth Whaler Tyler G. Brown did Saturday night in overtime against Oshawa: Dive on your belly after your own rebound, somehow tip the puck over the goalie's shoulder and send 2,458 people home deliriously happy.

  Brown received a pass from Leo Jenner, sliced through the heart of the Oshawa defense 90 seconds into the extra session and wristed a shot that was deflected in front by General goalie Michael Zador.

  The Wasaga Beach, ON native then went horizontal, tapping the bouncing puck past Zador, giving the Whalers' a 6-5 triumph and setting off a New Year's Eve-like frenzy in Compuware Arena.

  The Whalers, who improved to 2-0 heading into Thursday's showdown at 2-0 Saginaw, had owned four-goal leads twice in the contest.

  "I wanted to get a puck on net since we hadn't gotten many shots in the third period and overtime," Brown told PlymouthWhalers.com. "So I got the puck on the net and I thought I could get there for the rebound, so I dove and made it happen. I tried to us the defenseman as a screen, so the goalie wouldn't see the puck clearly. He kicked it right out to me."

  Zador must have felt like he was a duck in a shooting gallery during the first period as the Whalers zinged 16 missiles his way. Unfortunately for Zador, four of the shots missed the duck and hit the back of the net, giving the hosts a 4-0 advantage.

It could have been worse: Seguin hit a post from six feet out with 8:46 left in the period and R.J. Mahalek did the same three minutes later.

  On the other end of the rink, Whalers goalie Matt Hackett was brick-walling the Generals. Hackett turned away eight shots in the first 20 minutes with his cat-like reflexes and sensational savvy.

  The loudest check of the night came with 9:14 left in the second period when Gaynor rocked Christian Thomas into -- fittingly -- the board decorated with the Blue Cross-Blue Shield ad.

  Thomas avenged the hit six minutes later when his goal from Alex Dezielski cut the Generals' deficit to 4-1.

  Mahalak answered for Plymouth with 42.7 seconds left in the period to boost the Whalers' lead to 5-1.

  Just as most of the crowd was leaving their seats for some second-intermission refreshments, Oshawa's Andy Andreoff lit the lamp with one tick left on the clock to make it 5-2.

  The Whalers led in shots on goal after the second period, 29-26, but that was about to change.

  Playing with a renewed urgency, Oshawa knotted the game at 5-all on Boone Jenner's second goal of the period with 4:22 left. Scrappy Tony DeHart also scored in the period for the visitors.

But the Generals' comeback proved to be fruitless thanks to a Herculean effort by Brown, who was mobbed by his teammates as soon as he pushed himself off the ice.

  Oshawa outshot Plymouth, 39-38.

Ed Wright can be reached at info@plymouthcantonsports.com or (734) 453-1980.