KALAMAZOO, MI – The Kalamazoo Wings (26-25-3-3), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, had a strong first period but could not find the scoresheet in the final 40 minutes, falling to the Indy Fuel (28-20-8-1) Saturday at Wings Event Center, 3-2.
Griffin Ness (8) started the scoring in the Green Ice classic, firing the puck five-hole from the right circle at the 2:32 mark of the first period. On the play, Evan Dougherty laid a massive hit, freeing up the puck in the neutral zone and allowing Ness to rush in for the unassisted goal.
The Fuel then took advantage of a power-play opportunity, scoring a goal at the 8:32 mark.
Nolan Walker (16) quickly regained the lead for the K-Wings with a top-shelf snipe at the 9:12 mark. On the goal, Andre Ghantous (17) intercepted a pass near the defensive zone blue line and rushed forward before backhanding a pass behind him to Walker for the high-slot snipe.
Indy scored the only goals of the second and third periods at the 4:34 and 15:46 marks, respectively, to finalize a 3-2 score.
Aku Koskenvuo (4-8-0-0) was stout in net, making 26 saves. The K-Wings went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play.
