TOLEDO – The Toledo Walleye took a bounce back victory over the Kalamazoo Wings on Saturday night, winning 5-2 in front of a packed Huntington Center sellout crowd of 8,300.
How it Happened: Kalamazoo kicked off the scoring as former Walleye Quinn Preston found the back of the net at 8:08 of the first period. Toledo came right back to quickly even the score at 10:37 as Jordan Ernst lit the lamp for the first time this season, with Nolan Moyle and Denis Smirnov assisting.
The Wings had the first power play chance of the game after Nick Andrews was sent to the sin bin for playing with a broken stick, but they could not convert.
The Walleye pulled ahead when Smirnov buried a rebound at 18:17 for his third strike of the season. Ernst and Riley McCourt tallied the assists, giving both Smirnov and Ernst a pair of points as the teams head to the locker room after 20 minutes with Toledo leading 2-1.
The teams came back out of the locker rooms for the second frame and Kalamazoo made a call to the bench, as new signee Luke Pavicich took over between the pipes for Vorva.
Evan Dougherty was penalized for hooking at 3:03, giving the Walleye their first man-advantage of the contest, but they could not convert.
The Fish soon returned to the power play, as Powell Conner received two minutes for interference. Soon it’d drop to four-on-four as McCourt was caught slashing at 6:50. Neither team wound up with a power play goal, but the Wings tied it shortly after, making it 2-2 at 9:09.
Nate Roy found the back of the net at 13:56 for his first professional point, with Colby Ambrosio and Sam Craggs assisting as Toledo regains a 3-2 lead.
The K-Wings tallied their third power play chance after Colin Swoyer was called for hooking at 14:33, but the Walleye penalty kill stood tall again.
After 40 minutes, the Fish held a 3-2 lead while nearly doubling the Wings in shots 28-16.
On the ice and right back to work in the third for Toledo, as Tanner Kelly sniped his first professional goal after a faceoff, with Dylan Moulton and Will Hillman picking apples and giving Toledo a 4-2 lead at 2:28.
Another pair of penalty exchanges eventually led to the third Walleye power play of the night. Doughtery (diving/embellishment) and Jed Pietila (interference) traded at 6:01, leaving play at five-on-five. Craggs was called for slashing at 8:20, but Ryan Cox would take the same penalty call just 35 seconds later, dropping to four-on-four for 1:25 before a quick, but fruitless man-advantage.
Hillman added an unassisted score at 19:39 to officially send the Wings home with a 5-2 loss, splitting the weekend home-and-home series.
Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:
- Nate Roy (TOL) – First Pro Goal, GWG
- Denis Smirnov (TOL) – 1G, 1A
- Tanner Kelly (TOL) – First Pro Goal
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