TOLEDO, OH – Justin Kea exacted revenge against his former club with the lone goal of a five-round shootout to guide the Toledo Walleye to a 3-2 victory over the Fort Wayne Komets on Sunday before a sold-out crowd of 7,867 at the Huntington Center.
Pat Nagle turned aside 34-of-36 shots and finished a perfect 5-for-5 in the skills competition to pick up his 14th win of the season, while journeyman netminder Eric Levine blocked 35-of-37 in his first start with Fort Wayne (21-16-1-2) since the 2014-15 campaign. The result sees the Walleye (24-10-3-2) improve to 5-1-2-0 against the Komets in the regular season series, with six meetings decided by a single goal and four decided in overtime or a shootout.
Chances were scarce in the opening period until Jordan Topping capitalized on Toledo’s first power play chance at the 17:45 mark. With the hosts utilizing a 1-3-1 formation, Marcus Crawford sent a pass from the point to Topping at the top of the left circle for a wrist shot inside the right post for his 11th goal of the season.
The Walleye maintained their one-goal lead throughout the second period, only for the Komets to knot the score just 36 seconds into the third. Marc-Olivier Roy wrapped the puck around the Toledo net before sending a pass through the goal mouth to J.C. Campagna at the right post for a tap-in.
Toledo had a chance to jump back in front at 2:14 when Greg Wolfe was awarded a penalty shot after being hauled down on a breakaway attempt by Fort Wayne defenseman Craig Cescon. However, the game remained deadlocked as Wolfe’s penalty shot was sent low and wide to the glove side.
Dylan Sadowy’s first goal on home ice this year propelled the Walleye to a 2-1 edge a couple moments later. Positioned inside the Fort Wayne blue line, Wolfe created a sudden 2-on-0 when he poked the puck to T.J. Hensick, who in turn chipped a pass to Sadowy at the lower part of the right circle for a shot over Levine’s catching glove at the 4:22 mark.
Fort Wayne eventually evened the score on its third and final power play opportunity of the night as Roy buried his eighth goal of the season with 3:01 left in regulation. Tasked with their second shootout in as many nights, the Walleye prevailed in five rounds to snap an 0-3-0-2 slide and extend Fort Wayne’s winless streak to four straight (0-2-1-1).
Both sides finished 1-for-3 on the man advantage.
What’s Next:
Toledo returns to the Huntington Center on Monday to host the CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic and Skills Competition at 7 p.m. The 2019 CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic features a 3-on-3 tournament with four teams competing for the top spot.
Walleye players will comprise half of the four teams, and square off against two other teams featuring players from the Eastern and Western Conference. All four teams will advance to the second round and will be re-seeded based on total score. The two highest scoring teams after rounds one and two will meet in the third round for the final matchup.
The 2019 CCM/ECHL All-Star Skills Competition will take place during the intermission break between both the first and second round and the second and third round.
Toledo resumes its regular season slate on Friday with a 7:15 p.m. tilt versus the Western Conference-leading Cincinnati Cyclones.
Three Stars:
1. Toledo – Justin Kea (shootout-winning goal)
2. Fort Wayne – Marc-Olivier Roy (power play goal, assist)
3. Toledo – Dylan Sadowy (goal)
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