The Erie Otters’ goaltending troubles continued Wednesday night.

Plymouth scored 10 goals on 39 shots against 2009 draft pick Adam Wood, who was recalled from the Clarington Eagles’ Junior C club Wednesday, in the Whalers’ 10-6 win at Tullio Arena.

The Otters (10-47-3-3) entered the game off a 13-4 loss at Niagara Sunday, which saw forward Connor Crisp allow 13 goals on 45 shots as the emergency goaltender in place of injured Ramis Sadikov.

That prompted the Otters to bring in Wood and J.P. Cesario, who was an emergency loan from Owen Sound. The West Division-leading Whalers (44-17-2-1) capitalized on Erie’s struggles in net.

Mitchell Heard and Austin Levi led the way with two goals and an assist apiece. Tom Wilson, Stefan Noesen and Garrett Meurs had a goal and assist apiece for the Whalers.

Stephen Harper had his first OHL hat trick for the Otters. Sondre Olden had a goal and two assists while Luke Cairns had a goal and assist. Erie began the night with an injured list that included goaltenders Sadikov and Devin Williams, defensemen Jimmy McDowell and Nathan Glass and forward Nick Betz. Crisp, who made his season debut Sunday against Niagara as the emergency goaltender, also was scratched.

They also were short two skaters. Then rookie defenseman Travis Wood was injured in the first period on a high hit from from the Whalers’ Wilson. Wood was taken off the ice wearing a neck brace and on a stretcher and was taken a local hospital. No official word from the Otters after the game on Wood’s condition.

Yet the Otters built a 3-1 lead less than eight minutes into the game.

Cairns opening the scoring 4:27 into the game on assists from Dane Fox and Adam Pelech. Plymouth tied the score on Heard’s goal 46 seconds later. But Kris Grant scored at the 6:47 mark, followed by Harper’s goal 1:01 later to hand the Otters a two-goal lead.

Yet Heard’s second goal of the period, scored with 53 seconds left in the first, sparked a barrage of six consecutive goals that propelled the Whalers to a 7-3 lead. Plymouth scored the final five goals of that decisive stretch in the opening 10:25 of the second period. Cody Payne ended the second with Plymouth’s second short-handed goal for an 8-4. He scored 1:28 after Harper scored during a 5-on-3 opportunity.

At the 5:03 mark of the third, Harper scored his 24^th goal of the season to complete his first career hat trick and move the Otters within 8-5. But Levi and J.T. Miller scored 1:08 apart to build a 10-5 Whalers’ lead. Olden’s goal capped the high-scoring game.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Whalers 10, Otters 6

Plymouth  2  6  2  —  10

Erie  3  1  2  —  6

1^st Period — 1. Erie, Luke Cairns 14 (Fox, Pelech), 4:27. 2. Plymouth, Mitchell Heard 27 (Meurs, Jones), 5:13. 3. Erie, Kris Grant 3 (Brown, Cairns), 6:47. 4. Erie, Stephen Harper 22 (Olden), 7:48. 5. Plymouth, Heard 28 (unassisted), 19:07. Penalties — Payne (P) interference, 10:37; McGuire (E) instigator, 12:59; McGuire (E) 5-min. fighting, 12:59; Wilson (P) 5-min. fighting, 12:59; McGuire (E) 10-min. misconduct, 12:59; McGuire (E) game misconduct, 12:59; Fox (E) 5-min. fighting, 16:53; Miller (P) 5-min. fighting, 16:53.

2^nd Period — 6. Plymouth, Stefan Noesen 34 (Rakell, Wilson), :20. 7. Plymouth, Austin Levi 4 (Noesen, Rakell), 3:35. 8. Plymouth, Alex Aleardi 33 (unassisted), 5:27 (sh). 9. Plymouth, Garrett Meurs 20 (Heard), 6:59. 10. Plymouth, Tom Wilson 8 (unassisted), 10:25. 11. Erie, Harper 23 (Pelech, McCarthy), 17:28 (pp). 12. Plymouth, Cody Payne 5 (Devane), 18:56 (sh). Penalties — Fox (E) 10-min. misconduct, 3:35; Devane (P) high sticking, 4:30; Meurs (P) high sticking, 10:39; Whaley (P) holding, 16:26; Trutmann (P) tripping, 17:20.

3^rd Period — 13. Erie, Harper 24 (Olden), 5:03. 14. Plymouth, Levi 5 (Whaley), 10:51. 15. Plymouth, J.T. Miller 24 (Whaley, Levi), 11:59. 16. Erie, Sondre Olden 11 (Evans, Harper), 16:40. Penalties — Jones (P) interference, 2:51; Fox (E) 5-min. fighting, 6:50; Jones (P) 5-min. fighting, 6:50; Malysa (P) slashing, 13:27.

Shots on goal — Plymouth, 10-15-14—39; Erie, 10-6-11—27.

Goaltenders — Plymouth, Matt Mahalak (7 shots, 4 saves), Scott Wedgewood 25-9-2-1 (21 shots, 18 saves); Erie, Adam Wood 0-1-0-0 (39 shots, 29 saves).

Power plays — Plymouth (0-1), Erie (1-7).

Referees — Joe Park, Pat Myers. Linesmen — Ryan Holmstead, Ray King.

Attendance — 2,256.

Three stars

* Austin Levi, Whalers (2 goals, assist) ** Stephen Harper, Otters (3 goals, assist) *** Mitchell Heard, Whalers (2 goals, assist)

Ramis Sadikov’s season debut should take place tonight. It can’t arrive soon enough.

The struggles for the Erie Otters’ young, injury-plagued defense continued from the start Friday night in a 5-1 loss to the Plymouth Whalers in front of 2,158 at Tullio Arena on Friday night.

The Whalers scored on the power play 3:45 into the games to spark a three-goal barrage in the opening period. The Otters (1-9-0-0), which have lost five straight, has allowed at least four goals in all 10 games. They rank last in the OHL with 58 goals against (5.8 per game).

Tom Wilson scored his first goal of the season on Rickard Rakell and Garrett Meurs. Then at the 12:30 mark of the period, Wilson assisted on Mitchell Heard’s team-leading seventh goal. Heard scored off a rebound, with highly touted rookie J.T. Miller also earning an assist on the play.

Plymouth capped the decisive scoring barrage with a goal at the 17:47 mark, as Meurs redirected Dario Trutmann’s centering pass into his third goal and a 3-0 Whalers’ lead. The Otters gained a bit of momentum after killing off the Whalers’ nearly two-minute, two-man advantage to start the second.

The Whalers (5-4-2-0) stole momentum midway through the period. Jamie Devane turned Michael Whaley’s into a 4-0 lead 8:01 into the middle period. Three minutes later, Wilson scored his second goal on assists from Rakell and Danny Vanderwiel for a 5-0 lead. The Otters finally got on the scoreboard, as Brett Thompson scored on assists from Brett Cook and Greg McKegg with 6:08 left in the period.

Wilson (two goals, assist) and Rakell (three assists) led the Whalers with three points apiece. Meurs had two points while goaltender Matt Mahalak made 22 saves to improve to 3-2-0-0 on the season. Tyson Teichmann made 33 saves for the Otters.

- Victor Fernandes

Erie Otters forward David Broll was one of 43 players invited to attend Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp, which runs from July 31-August 3 at in Calgary, Alberta.

The camp, which includes 15 Ontario Hockey League players, will be used to determine the players for Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team that will play in the 2010 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament, scheduled for August 10-14 in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Former Otters center Ryan O’Reilly represented Canada in the 2008 Hlinka tournament, helping the team to a gold medal. Current Otters right wing Shawn Szydlowski played for the United States in 2007, when the squad finished in fifth place.

Broll, the Otters first round draft pick in 2009, finished his rookie year with nine goals and nine assists in 64 games. He has experience in international play with Team Ontario in the 2009 World Under-17 Ice Hockey Challenge.

CHL Players:

Defencemen:

Myles Bell, Regina Pats

Cody Ceci, Ottawa 67’s

Dillon Donnelly, Shawinigan Cataractes

Dougie Hamilton, Niagara IceDogs

Scott Harrington, London Knights

Ryan Murphy, Kitchener Rangers

Ryan Murray, Everett Silvertips

Jimmy Oligny, PEI Rocket

Xavier Ouellet, Montreal Juniors

Stuart Percy, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors

Jonathan Racine, Shawinigan Cataractes

Reece Scarlett, Swift Current Broncos

Duncan Siemens, Saskatoon Blades

Stephen Woodworth, Lewiston MAINEiacs

Forwards:

Brent Andrews, Halifax Mooseheads

Olivier Archambault, Val d’Or Foreurs

Austen Brassard, Belleville Bulls

David Broll, Erie Otters

Raphael Bussieres, Baie-Comeau Drakkar

Daniel Catenacci, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds

Michael Curtis, Belleville Bulls

Phillip Danault, Victoriaville Tigres

Jonathan Huberdeau, Saint John Sea Dogs

Boone Jenner, Oshawa Generals

Jean-Francois Leblanc, Val d’Or Foreurs

Adam Lowry, Swift Current Broncos

Mark McNeill, Prince Albert Raiders

Garrett Meurs, Plymouth Whalers

Bryce Milson, Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Red Deer Rebels

Matt Puempel, Peterborough Petes

Alan Quine, Kingston Frontenacs

Ty Rattie, Portland Winterhawks

Brett Ritchie, Sarnia Sting

Carter Sandlak, Guelph Storm

Colin Smith, Kamloops Blazers

Michael St. Croix, Edmonton Oil Kings

The players, born in 1993, were selected by Hockey Canada head scout Al Murray, in consultation with head coach George Burnett (Port Perry, Ont./Belleville Bulls, OHL) and assistant coaches Ron Choules (Montreal, Que./Acadie-Bathurst Titan, QMJHL) and Jim Hiller (Nelson, B.C./Tri-City Americans, WHL). Murray evaluated these players over the course of the 2009-10 season, following them along with numerous other candidates for the program during league play, as well as during the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge held from December 29-January 4 in Timmins, Ont.

“The upcoming National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp will be competitive and exciting,” Murray said. “These players represent the future of Canadian hockey and are a testament to the strength of the Canadian Hockey League and the skill development taking place in minor hockey across the country.”

The camp roster includes 12 skaters from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, 15 from the Ontario Hockey League, 10 from the Western Hockey League and one from the Central Canadian Hockey League (Junior A). In total, 36 of those 38 skaters (14 defencemen and 22 forwards) competed at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Of the 43 players who have been identified for the selection camp, 22 skaters and two goaltenders will be selected for Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team that will play in the 2010 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament, scheduled for August 10-14 in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

- From Erie Otters, Hockey Canada/CHL news releases