KALAMAZOO, MI – The Kalamazoo Wings (27-26-3-3), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, could not overcome goals on the first two shots of the second period by the Rapid City Rush (25-30-4-1), falling Saturday at Wings Event Center, 3-2.
Rapid City took the initial lead, scoring a goal on its first shot of the contest at the 1:02 mark of the first period.
Evan Dougherty (4) continued his hot streak by sneaking in a five-hole goal on the rush at the 3:14 mark. On the play, Colson Gengenbach (6) started the play behind the Kalamazoo net, passing to Collin Saccoman (14), who launched a beautiful rink-wide pass from his own goal line to Dougherty, rushing in the slot for the goal.
Unfortunately, the Rush responded with a pair of second-period goals at the 4:35 and 5:56 marks to bring the score to 3-1 Rapid City heading into the final frame.
Ryan Cox (14) then deposited a net-front goal at the 2:32 mark to bring the K-Wings within one. On the setup, the K-Wings and Rush skated 4-on-4 as Saccoman (15) started a 3-on-3 blitz into the offensive zone, finding Jackson Kunz (5), who quickly relayed to Cox for the goal.
Jonathan Lemieux (10-7-1-3) was stout in net, making 35 saves in the contest. The K-Wings went 4-for-5 on the penalty and 0-for-4 on the power-play.
Next up, Kalamazoo concludes the three-game series versus the Rush at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday at Wings Event Center, featuring a kids’ Jersey Giveaway.
