KALAMAZOO, MI – The Kalamazoo Wings (19-20-3-3), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, fell despite three goals in the third and a hat trick performance against the Iowa Heartlanders (15-28-2-2) on Saturday at Xtream Arena, 6-4.
Quinn Preston (15) started the scoring for the K-Wings, depositing a putback tuck from the top of the crease at the 4:04 mark to take the initial lead. On the play, Powell Connor (4) sent a blue line pass to Colin Bilek (11) in the left circle, who fired a shot that ricocheted off the legs of a defender to Preston’s stick for the goal.
The Heartlanders then answered with four straight goals. The first came at the 16:12 mark and then the next two at the 8:42 and 9:48 marks of the second period. The last coming on the power play at the 13:47 mark.
Preston (16) then found the back of the net for the second time of the night at the 5-minute mark of the third period. On the setup, Zach Okabe (25) sent a circle-to-circle pass to Josh Bloom (7) at the right dot. Bloom then threaded a pass through the crease to Preston waiting at the net front.
Unfortunately, Iowa added another pair of goals at the 5:41 and 8:34 marks, bringing the score to 6-2.
Preston (17) then ripped the twine for his first professional hat trick at the 14:40 mark. On his third goal of the night, David Keefer (14), skating toward the slot, sent a pass to Robby Drazner (8) in the right circle. Drazner then outletted a pass to Preston waiting in his favorite spot at the crease for the hatty.
Ryan Cox (11) then found the net with 26-seconds remaining. Okabe (26) and Bloom (8) were each credited with assists on the play.
Ty Young (7-5-1-0) made 25 saves in the contest. The K-Wings took the shot advantage 35-31 and went 1-for-4 on the power play.
Next up, the K-Wings hit the road for a mid-week matchup against the Cincinnati Cyclones (20-20-3-0) at 7:35 p.m. EST on Wednesday, February 18, at Heritage Bank Center.
You must be logged in to post a comment.