CINCINNATI, OH – The Kalamazoo Wings (7-10-2-1), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, rode two multipoint games and outlasted the Cincinnati Cyclones (11-9-2-0) in their second consecutive overtime affair Friday at Heritage Bank Center, 3-2.
Jayden Lee (2) showed up in the clutch, scoring the game-winning overtime goal as part of his second multi-point game in a row. On the game winner, Nolan Walker (9) and Zach Okabe (12) went tic-tac-toe with Lee in the right circle, who found the top twine on a wrister to end the game.
Cincinnati took the early advantage with two first-period goals at the 3:08 and 10:00 (PPG) marks, but Kalamazoo was quick to respond in the second.
Quinn Preston (8) answered by continuing his hot streak with an unassisted snipe inside the right post to open the second frame at the 1:04 mark. On the play, Preston gathered a loose puck off the K-Wing’s goal line and rushed the length of the ice before launching a bomb from just inside the blue line, bringing the deficit to one.
Knotting the game at two and charting his sixth goal in four games, Preston (9) lasered a top-shelf power-play goal from the right circle at the 8:25 mark of the third period. On the setup, Jayden Lee (6) stole the puck near center ice and backhanded a pass to Hunter Strand (5) at the right circle. The rookie then relayed the puck behind his back to Preston for the game-tying goal.
Ty Young (1-0-0-0) was stout in net, making 33-of-35 saves, and the K-Wings went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Kalamazoo now heads to Fort Wayne for a 7:35 p.m. EST matchup Saturday at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.