KALAMAZOO, Mich – Ryan Nie made 37 saves; Trent Daavettila added three points and the Kalamazoo Wings closed out the Eastern Conference Finals with a 6-1 victory over the Wheeling Nailers on Tuesday night at Wings Stadium. The game six win gave the K-Wings their first birth in the finals since 2006-07. They will face the Alaska Aces in the best-of-seven Kelly Cup Finals.
Kalamazoo struck gold first, as it was Jon Landry netting his first of the postseason. His quick wrist-shot beat Wheeling goaltender, Peter Delmas. Nie chipped in on the play with an assist, as Kalamazoo was working with a man advantage opportunity, late in the first period. The tally for Landry was his first in a K-Wings sweater since mid-February.
The scoring in the second frame came early and often, starting with Joey Haddad who got Wheeling on the board for the first time on the evening. He walked past the Kalamazoo defense en route to Nie’s net. He stuffed it through Nie for his team-leading seventh of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
The K-Wings couldn’t be held off the score-sheet for much longer, as Aaron Clarke (5th) tipped a Wes O’Neill slap shot which beat Delmas just 1:06 after the Nailers tied the game at one apiece.
The next power play chance for Kalamazoo was accommodating yet again for the K-Wings, as Daavettila got into the scoring mix with his fifth goal of the post-season and his team-lead-tying third power play goal of the playoffs. The goal gave Kalamazoo a two goal lead in which they took into the third period.
Only 53 seconds ticked off the clock in the third period before the K-Wings found the back of the net yet again. Sam Ftorek let a slap shot go from the right-side blue line for his fourth goal of the playoff run.
Nine minutes later, Kalamazoo struck again. Darryl Lloyd gave the K-Wings a 5-1 lead, when he buried a Kory Karlander pass through the pads of Delmas. The goal for Lloyd was his fifth of the post-season.
Brandon Svendsen (4th) sealed the K-Wings date with destiny when he added a shorthanded, empty-net goal to give Kalamazoo a formidable 6-1 lead.
Kalamazoo will commence the Kelly Cup Finals this Saturday, May 14th with an 11:15 p.m. (EDT) encounter against the Alaska Aces in game one.
The K-Wings will return to Wings Stadium in game three of the Kelly Cup Finals Wednesday, May 18th with a 7 p.m. face-off versus the Aces.
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