Walker hat trick leads K-Wings to 3-2 win over Walleye

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TOLEDO, OH – The Kalamazoo Wings (17-17-2-2), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, rode a Nolan Walker hat trick and lauded defensive play to beat the Toledo Walleye (24-9-3-3) in a thrilling 3-2 Victory on Saturday at Huntington Center.

K-WINGS DRAIN WALLEYE, WALKER SPLASHES HAT TRICK SATURDAY

Kalamazoo’s Nolan Walker recorded his first career hat trick, and Jonathan Lemieux made 33 of 35 saves in an exhilarating game that had fans on the edge of their seats down the stretch.

Walker (8) ignited the scoring for Kalamazoo, sniping his first goal of the night just inside the left post at the 13:36 mark of the first period. On the play, Powell Connor (2) charged into the zone and wrapped around the backside of the net, delivering the puck to Andre Ghantous (12) down low. Ghantous then crossed to Walker, crashing down the slot side of the left circle.

Kalamazoo then cashed in on the power play at the 17:15 mark of the first, as Walker (9) tipped in his second goal of the night. On the setup, David Keefer (11) back-handed a pass from above the right circle to Davis Pennington (18), who launched a bomb from just inside the blue line that found the stick of Walker crossing into the high slot from the right circle.

The Walleye responded in the second period with a goal at the 9:39 mark, narrowing the lead to one.

Following a scoreless initial 15 minutes of the third period, Walker (10) was launched all alone down the center of the ice for a breakaway game-winning goal. The forward dangled the puck and fired a five-hole bullet on the rush at the 15:46 mark. On the setup, Hunter Strand (9) stole the puck in the K-Wings’ zone and dished to Walker on the defensive zone blue line.

Unfortunately, Toledo responded with an extra-attacker goal of their own at the 18:13 mark, but did not find the net again, despite multiple posts hit and heavy pressure until the final horn.

Jonathan Lemieux (5-5-1-2) turned in one of his best performances this year. Kalamazoo went a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, 1-for-5 on the power play and Toledo took the shot total 35 to 26.