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Whalers, Generals, Slug Their Way to Weekend Split

By Whaler Nation, 01/22/17, 1:00PM EST

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The hatred between the Whalers and Richmond Generals in the I-64 rivalry is alive and well after a hard fought weekend between the 2 clubs which saw 250 combined penalty minutes and 9 player ejections, as the two teams split the weekend series.

Friday Elite 6-2 WIN

The Whalers Elite team kicked off the weekend Friday night and jumped out to a comfortable 3-0 lead 2 minutes into the 2nd period, and led by 4 early in the 3rd before Richmond struck twice in a span of 1:04 halfway through the 3rd to keep it close before the Whalers pulled away to a 6-2 victory.

Six different Whalers found the scoresheet, as Andriy Denyskin, Conner Hunt, Billy Brock, Zach Zalar, and Brandon Osmundson all scored one along with Jonah Lainesse, who scored his 1st Elite goal of the season in his 1st game after earning a call up from the USP3 team.  Denyskin, Hunt, and John Moncovich each had 2 assists, while Brendon Zack, Colton Seeman, Zach Zalar, and Brandon Osmundson each had 1.  Sean Dickson secured win number 19 on the season in net with 26 saves.

The Whalers held a 37-28 shot on goal advantage.  The Whalers went 1 for 5 on the power play while Richmond was 0 for 6.  Curtis Foster was ejected from the game from Richmond.

Friday USP3 5-2 WIN

The Whalers and Generals USP3 teams battled in a hotly contested game in which special teams proved to be the determining factor as the Whalers top ranked power play unit struck 3 times to propel the Whalers to a 5-2 win.

Matthew Hanchon scored twice, Mathieu Doucet, Gary Eastlack, and Noah Kramer each converted once.  7 different Whalers notched an assist, Robert Brown, Gary Eastlack, Cody Wilson, Max Loga, Cole Helgemo, Ryan Lorenz, and Charles DuBose.  Everett Yasinski made 28 saves in goal for the win.

Richmond held a 30-21 shot on goal advantage.  The Whalers went 3 for 7 on the power play, Richmond was 1 for 6.  Six different players were ejected in a 3rd period line brawl, Cole Helgemo, Collin Markoski, and Nolan Cavanagh for the Whalers and Reed Wisniewski, Aaron Szalankiewicz, and Michael Krupinski for Richmond.

Saturday USP3 4-1 Loss

Saturday night’s game again was determined by special teams, as the Generals power play converted twice, goalie Jordan Gilbert made 31 saves, and Tomas Rocco had a hat-trick to propel Richmond past the Whalers 4-1.

Caelan Bolanowski scored the lone Whalers goal.  Mathieu Doucet had the lone assist.  Steve McGuire suffered the loss in goal, surrendering 3 goals on 20 shots; the 4th Generals goal was an empty netter.

The Whalers held a 31-21 shot on goal advantage.  Richmond finished 2 for 2 on the power play while the Whalers went 0 for 2.  

Saturday Elite 5-4 OT Loss

Game two of the weekend the Whalers just couldn’t find a way to pull away, despite a large margin in shots, Richmond goalie Rob Ivy kept the Generals in the game with many huge saves, as the Whalers held a slim 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.  Just 33 seconds into the 3rd the Generals tied the game, but 6 minutes later the Whalers regained the lead 4-3.  With just 1:38 to play, the Generals found a loose puck in front of the net and tied the game at 4-4 to send it to overtime.  In the OT session, Ivy turned away 4 Whalers shots, including a Brandon Osmundson breakaway, before Taylor Urch scored on a breakaway to send Richmond to a 5-4 win.

Tyler Besner scored his first 2 goals as a Whaler and posted a 4 point night with 2 assists as well.  Nick Richards and Billy Brock as posted goals for the Whalers.  Newcomer Liam Walsh posted 2 assists, his first points as a Whaler, Andriy Denyskin and John Horn each had 1 helper.  Sean Dickson suffered the loss in goal, surrendering 5 goals on 26 shots. 

The Whalers held a 34-26 advantage in shots.  Hampton Roads went 0 for 8 on the power play.  Richmond went 0 for 5.  Vaden McManus was ejected from the game for the Whalers, Joseph Crump was ejected for Richmond.

What's on Tap?

The Whalers and Generals continue the back half of their home and home series as games 3 and 4 will be played this weekend at Skate Nation plus in Richmond.

Whalers USP3 (22-13-3, 47pts, 6th) vs. Richmond (23-11-4, 50pts, 4th)

Season series: Tied 2-2.

Whalers Elite (32-3-3, 67pts, 2nd) vs. Richmond (19-17-2, 40pts, 6th)

Season series: Whalers lead 3-1.

Saturday Jan. 28th

USP3: 4:30pm

Elite: 7:30pm

Sunday Jan. 29th

USP3: 8:15am

Elite: 11:15am

All games can be seen live online on HockeyTV.