KALAMAZOO, MI— A see-saw battle between the Kalamazoo Wings and Colorado Eagles yielded eleven goals, with Kalamazoo defending their home ice down the stretch on their way to a 6-5 victory on Friday night at Wings Event Center.
Kalamazoo generated several chances through the first minute of the game, but it was Colorado who struck for the game’s first mark, just 1:38 into the contest. Driving the zone, Johnny Lazo created space at the right circle, allowing him to feed a pass to Jesse Mychan, who was standing alone at the top of the crease.
Mychan tapped the puck past Joel Martin to open high-scoring first frame.
Answering at 3:21 of the first, the Wings tied the game at 1-1 by a timely re-direction. Anton Cederholm one-timed a chance at the blue line that was deflected into the goal by Justin Taylor, who was camped out in front of Colorado’s netminder, Clark Saunders.
Wasting no time to re-establish their lead, Mychan needed only 28 seconds to net his second of the night. Walking down the right side, Lazo found Mychan in the high slot, and he lifted the puck over the blocker of Martin to make it 2-1.
Pushing their lead to 3-1, the Eagles took advantage of a Kalamazoo miscue to earn a shorthanded tally. Curt Gogol blocked a shot at the blue line, springing Colorado on a two-on-one break. Gogol held the puck to just below the left faceoff dot before sending a cross-ice pass to the tape of Trent Daavettila, who knocked in a one-timer.
The Wings cut their deficit to one at the 6:34 mark of the first stanza as Ludwig Blomstrand continued his torrid scoring streak. Blomstrand found the loose puck at the left circle, walked in, and rifled in a shot to the near side, making it a 3-2 game. The goal gave Blomstrand his 19th point in his last 13 games.
The first period scoring frenzy was capped off by Kalamazoo, who were able to make it a 3-3 game heading into the first intermission. Lane Scheidl carried through the neutral zone and blew past the Colorado defense, giving him an open look at Saunders. His shot slid through the crease to the tape of Cederholm, who knocked in the rebound chance, for his first professional tally.
The second period began much like the first, with a quick strike to open the frame. Mychan walked in on Martin untouched, and used a forehand-to-backhand deke to open the pads of Martin, feed a slow roller just over the line, and give his team a one-goal lead, 29 seconds into the second period.
Tying the game for the third time on the night, Kalamazoo continued to show resiliency to make it 4-4. Tyler Shattock took a blue line feed from Cederholm, and tucked in a sharp-angle shot from just below the left faceoff dot to the near-side post.
Taking their first lead of the night in the late stages of the middle period, David Gilbert took the puck off the defense of Colorado, and smoothly gained the zone. Gilbert fed a perfect pass to the tape of Brett Ponich, who picked the near side, and taliied in his first goal of the season. The goal spelled the end of the night for Saunders, who stopped 14 of the 19 shots he faced.
Extending their lead to two goals, the Wings continued to buzz around the offensive zone and pressure Eric Levine, the backup net minder for the Eagles. Evan McEneny fired a shot from the high slot that was deflected in front by Taylor for his second strike of the contest.
Keeping things tight midway through the third, Colorado was able to draw within one. Daavettila stole the puck from a Wings skater, and found Gogol steaking down the left side, who picked the open goal, blowing the puck past the glove of Martin
With Levine pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Kalamazoo warded off a storm of chances by Colorado and held home ice on their way to the one-goal victory.
With Kalamazoo Wings release
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