Bloomington, IL – The Toledo Walleye dropped game four of the Central Division Semifinals to the Bloomington Bison at Grossinger Motors Arena by a score of 4-3 tonight. Will MacKinnon, Carson Bantle, and Nick Andrews each scored goals for the Walleye, Mitch Lewandowski got two assists on the night, and the teams combined for 74 penalty minutes as the Bison fought to keep their season alive.
How it Happened:
Mitch Lewandowski took a tripping call just 3:07 into the first period, giving Bloomington the first power play opportunity of the day. The Bison converted with a goal from Deni Goure, his first goal of the series at the 4:47 mark of the first, giving Bloomington their first lead of the series.
Will MacKinnon got the goal back exactly two minutes later, tying the game back up with his first goal of the playoffs. Tanner Dickinson and Cam Hausinger got the assists on the goal at the 6:47 mark of the first.
Toledo got their first power play opportunity in the form of a double-minor penalty to Cooper Moore for a high-stick, giving the Walleye a fantastic opportunity to get their lead back. Carson Bantle scored his second goal of the postseason during the second part of the double-minor, putting the Walleye in the lead at the 14:15 mark of the first. Colin Swoyer and Mitch Lewandowski got the assists on the goal that put the Walleye up 2-1, which is the score that held through the end of the first period.
Nick Andrews scored his second goal of the playoffs at the 3:08 mark of the second, putting Toledo up 3-1 over the Bison. Mitch Lewandowski got his second assist of the night, and Sam Craggs got the secondary assist on the goal that ended goaltender Callum Tung’s night, who saw himself replaced by Dryden McKay.
Carson Bantle was called for a cross-checking minor, Toledo’s second penalty of the night at the 5:19 mark of the second. Bloomington scored again, their second power play goal of the night. Ayden MacDonald got the goal on the man-advantage at the 6:06 mark. MacDonald and Carter Gylander each earned an unsportsmanlike conduct minor after the goal, leading to 4-on-4 hockey for the following two minutes.
Nobody scored on the 4-on-4, but Bloomington tied the game back up at three goals each with a score from Grant Porter, his first of the playoffs at the 10:15 mark of the second period.
It took 1:15 into the third period for Chongmin Lee and Will MacKinnon to drop the gloves, earning each of the skaters a five-minute major for the fight. Nick Andrews and Lou-Felix Denis dropped the gloves just over three minutes later, earning five-minute majors. A scrap ensued behind the fight that resulted in a series of penalties. In addition to the fighting majors to Andrews and Denis, Carson Bantle received a fighting major and roughing minor, Sam Craggs received an unsportsmanlike conduct minor, Tanner Kelly received a game misconduct for the secondary fight, and Riley McCourt got a slashing minor. The penalties on Bloomington’s side included a roughing minor to Parker Gavlas, a fighting major, cross-checking minor, and a game misconduct for a secondary fight to Zakary Karpa, and an unsportsmanlike conduct minor to Ayden MacDonald, totaling 52 penalty minutes being handed out in the scrap at the 4:35 mark of the third period, a total of 74 minutes (37 minutes each) between the two in the game to that point.
Chongmin Lee took the lead for the Bison with just five minutes to go in regulation, scoring his second goal of the playoffs to give Bloomington the late 4-3 lead. The Walleye pulled Carter Gylander with about two minutes to go in regulation, hoping to re-tie the game late. Nikita Sedov scored on the empty net with 30 seconds to go, extending Bloomington’s season another day.
Three Stars:
1 – F Chongmin Lee, BLM (GWG)
2 – F Deni Goure, BLM (1 G, 3 A)
3 – G Dryden McKay (W, 16 SVS, 1.000 SV%)
