KALAMAZOO – Needing a victory to keep their season alive, the Kalamazoo Wings received a two-goal effort from Ludwig Blomstrand and a 31-save performance from goaltender Joel Martin in a 4-3 victory Friday night to fend off the Fort Wayne Komets in game four of the best-of-seven ECHL Divisional Semifinal series. Fort Wayne leads the series three games to one and the victory by Kalamazoo forces game five tomorrow, Saturday, April 25th at 7:30 p.m. at the Wings Event Center.
Giving the K-Wings the first goal of the contest, Sam Ftorek took a slap shot that bounced off the post and off the knee of Blomstrand (1st) 11:53 into the period. The goal marked the first time that the K-Wings have scored first and the first time the Komets have trailed in the series 
Fort Wayne answered back with a slap shot tally from Shawn Szydlowski (2nd). Avoiding a Ftorek hit, Drew Daniels sent a drop pass to the tape of Szydlowski, who scored from between the circles.
Taking the lead with 1.4 seconds remaining in the period while on a power-play, Mitchell Heard (1st) scored on a Mike Embach rebound. The assist extended Embach’s playoff point streak to four games.
Tying the game at two early in the second, Ftorek notched his first goal of the post season with an easy tap in. Gergo Nagy fired a spinning shot towards the net that hit Komets’ Roman Will and to the tape of Ftorek.
Reclaiming the lead midway in the period, Justin Taylor (1st) scored with a wrister from the left circle. The goal marked the first time in the series that Kalamazoo scored multiple goals in a single period.
Taking advantage of a four-on-four opportunity early in the final stanza, the Komets’ Matthew Pistilli (3rd) took a loose puck in the neutral zone and buried one past Martin on a breakaway chance.
Pulling ahead for good while on a 5-on-3 power play advantage, Blomstrand (2nd) netted his second of the game with a wrister from the right circle to secure the victory.

You must be logged in to post a comment.