Looking for their second-straight win, the Niagara IceDogs took on the Plymouth Whalers in St. Catharines Saturday night, facing a team that has recorded points in the last four games.

The game started off with the teams looking evenly-matched, as goalies Mark Visentin and Scott Wedgewood traded saves. But the IceDogs got a break with 6:40 into the first period when Whalers’ sophomore Tom Wilson was called for tripping David Pacan and just 17 seconds into the power play, the league’s best power play unit struck and Alex Friesen scored from the near side point on a pass from Dougie Hamilton.

The IceDogs continued their offensive prowess less than five minutes later, as sophomore Jesse Graham scored from the front of Wedgewood’s net, the result of Ryan Strome’s pass from the far boards.

The second period began with a flurry of shots by the IceDogs and while a hooking penalty assessed to Mitchell Theoret with 13:19 left in the second period slowed their offense, Dougie Hamilton capitalized on a pass from brother Freddie when he scored over Wedgewood’s left shoulder 10 seconds after the penalty kill. Hamilton leads all defensemen in the OHL in points (20), goals (6) and assists (14).

Heading into the third, the IceDogs continued their rapid pace of play and just 3:06 into the period, Freddie Hamilton scooped up the rebound of a Luke Mercer shot, giving him a point on every goal the IceDogs scored. Freddie wasn’t the game’s only star, as Visentin was a brick wall in net. The Phoenix draft pick blocked all 30 shots faced, giving him his second shutout of the season.

After the goal, the game became physical and two scrums in less than a minute between Plymouth and Niagara yielded two two-minute penalties for each team. With five minutes left in the game, Austin Levi facewashed IceDogs captain Andrew Agozzino who responded with a punch and after the pair exchanges heated words, both are awarded game misconducts. On the ensuing faceoff, Mitch Bennett and Nick Malysa drop the gloves, with Bennett dropping Malysa after only a few punches.

The IceDogs next game is on Wednesday, when they make short trip across the border to Erie and face the 1-9 Otters.

Scoring Summary

1. 6:23 NIA Friesen (PPG) (2) (D. Hamilton, F. Hamilton)

1. 11:02 NIA Graham (2) (Strome, F. Hamilton)

2. 11:03 NIA D. Hamilton (6) (Pacan, F. Hamilton)

3. 3:06 NIA F. Hamilton (8) (Mercer, Pacan)