BLOOMINGTON, IL – The Kalamazoo Wings (33-26-3-3), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, systematically dismantled the Bloomington Bison (32-29-2-3) en route to victory Sunday at Grossinger Motors Arena, 3-1.
Bloomington took the initial advantage, scoring a goal at the 13:18 mark of the first period.
It took Andre Ghantous (16) only 41 seconds to respond, knotting the game at the 13:59 mark. On the play, Matt Berry (7) won a battle for the puck in the slot and found the stick of Ghantous, who had his initial shot blocked in the right dot and then walked in and slid a backhand beauty into the back of the net.
Berry (2) then took advantage of an out-of-place netminder, depositing his first goal as a K-Wing at the 9:12 mark of the middle frame. On the game-winning goal, Jayden Lee (24) fired a shot from the blue line that ricocheted off the netminder to David Keefer (22) at the left corner of the crease, who relayed to Berry at the opposite flank for the game-winning goal.
Evan Dougherty (7) then fired a shot into the twine to give Kalamazoo a 3-1 advantage at the 11:12 mark. On the insurance, Ghantous (22) collected a loose neutral zone puck and started the 2-on-1 rush before crossing a pass to Dougherty all alone above the crease.
Aku Koskenvuo (9-8-0-0) continued his outstanding play between the pipes, turning aside 21 of 22 shots. The K-Wings were a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and took the shot total in the contest (23-22).
Next up, the K-Wings stay on the road for a game against the Fort Wayne Komets (40-16-10-0) at 7:35 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 10, at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
