Toledo, OH – The Toledo Walleye won tonight’s game against the Wichita Thunder at the Huntington Center by a score of 4-1. Nick Andrews recorded his first professional regular season goal in a two-point effort, Brandon Hawkins had two assists to extend his point streak to five games, Jordan Ernst recorded the game-winning goal for his fourth goal of the season, Brendan Michaelian and Jacques Bouqout each made their season debuts, and Liam Souliere stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced.
How it Happened:
Nick Andrews kicked off the scoring for the Walleye with his first professional goal at the 5:21 mark of the first period to put the Fish up early. Sam Craggs and Tanner Kelly each got an assist on the goal.
Toledo would also get the first chance on the power play, as Wichita took a slashing penalty at the 9:11 mark of the first. Wichita killed it off successfully. Toledo took a penalty of their own three minutes later and killed it off successfully.
Without much else happening in the first, Toledo led the game 1-0 and outshot Wichita 15-10 in the period.
The first half of the second period featured a lot of back-and-forth possessions by both teams, but that trend was broken when Wichita took a hooking penalty in Toledo’s offensive zone at the 10:11 mark of the period.
Jordan Ernst tacked on his third goal of the season after a tough offensive zone battle, extending the Walleye lead to 2-0 at the 15:05 mark of the second. Nick Andrews recorded his second point of the night with an assist, and Brandon Hawkins got his sixth assist in five games with an assist on that goal.
The Walleye held that 2-0 lead through the end of the second period, outshooting Wichita 8-4 in the period and 23-14 in the game through two.
Wichita finally got on the board to end Liam Soulière’s shutout bid at the 14:48 mark of the third period, as Kyle Crnkovic put one past him. The Thunder emptied their net with 1:30 to go in a last-ditch effort to tie the hockey game.
Tanner Dickinson scored the first of two Walleye empty-net goals, his fifth goal of the season. Brandon Hawkins got the lone assist on the goal, his second of the night with 1:09 to go in the game. Conlan Keenan got his first point of the year with a second empty-netter with 17 seconds left, assisted by Will MacKinnon.
Toledo outshot Wichita 9-6 in the third period and 32-20 in the game. Both teams came up empty on their power plays, as Toledo’s penalty kill is now 17-for-17 at home.
Local 245 Three Stars:
1 – F Jordan Ernst, TOL (GWG)
2 – D Nick Andrews, TOL (1 G, 1 A)
3 – G Liam Souliere, TOL (19 SV, .950 SV%)