The Hamilton Red Wings gutted out a close 4-2 win against the Whitby Fury.

Hamilton gained the winning advantage on a goal by Ryan Punkari 3:41 into the third period and hung on until final buzzer.

The Red Wings got the win on the strength of a great game by Punkari, who had two goals and one assist. Punkari scored the first of his two goals at 2:54 into the second period to make the score 2-1 Whitby. Giovanni Foschia provided the assist. Punkari's next tally made the score 3-2 Hamilton with 16:19 left in the third period. Carl Greco assisted on the tally.

Hamilton put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Whitby to score on any of its three power plays.

Hamilton also got points from Foschia, who also finished with one goal and one assist. Rylee St. Onge also scored for Hamilton. Other players who recorded assists for Hamilton were Josh LaFrance, who had one and Otis Goldman, who had three.

The Fury's penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on 13 Hamilton power plays. Whitby's offense rang up 41 shots on the Red Wings' net. The Fury could not stay out of the penalty box, as the team accrued 40 minutes in penalties during the game.

Whitby was helped by Nik Coric, who tallied one goal. Coric scored 18:21 into the first period to make the score 2-0 Whitby. Stefan von Engelbrechten provided the assist. Whitby also got a goal from Zack Elson as well. In addition, Whitby received assists from Ryan Kirkup, Ryan Erickson, and Davis Kuksis, who contributed one each.

Jordan Cartney recorded 39 saves for Hamilton. The Red Wings incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. The Fury's Tyler Feaver stopped 20 shots out of the 24 that he faced.