KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Led by Dane Fox, who earned a career night with four goals, the Kalamazoo Wings raced past the Utah Grizzlies, 5-4, in overtime on Saturday night at Wings Event Center.
Kalamazoo dominated the opening minutes of the game and their hard work was rewarded in the form of a Tyler Shattock marker. Off a scrambled faceoff, the
puck found the tape of Shattock, who sent a wrister to the goal that trickled to the far post, past Ryan Faragher.
Just 28 seconds later, the Grizzlies knotted the game up at 1-1. Charles Sarault used his speed to walk into the Kalamazoo zone, and lifted a rising shot over the glove of Joel Martin.
The Wings withstood a Utah push and regained their one goal lead at the 14:52 mark of the first period. Fox unloaded a howitzer from the top of the circle, which hit the right pad of Faragher. Off the bounce, the puck looped over the pad of Faragher and across the line to make it 2-2.
Continuing the seesaw battle, Utah found the equalizer once again. While working on the power play, Bryan Moore found time and space, and streaked a cross-ice feed to the tape of T.J. Snyer, who deposited the open net chance.
As the first period came to a close, Fox continued to push the play and was rewarded with his second goal of the night. Picking up the loose puck in the corner, Fox skated towards the slot and unleashed a no-look wrist shot that fooled Faragher to make it 3-2.
The first half of the second frame featured end-to-end action, with the Grizzlies finding the equalizer just before the midway point of the period. Moore perfected a cross-ice feed to the area of Cody Ferriero, who took several whacks at the puck, and connected one past Martin.
The Grizzlies struck for their first lead of the night early in the third period. Advancing the puck with creative passing, Sarault rifled a pass at the top of the goal crease to the stick of Alex Krushelnyski, who potted the easy one timer, making it 4-3.
Minutes later, Fox struck for his third of the night to complete the hat trick and even the game up at four. Sacha Guimond blasted a slap shot from the left-side point which stopped the initial shot but put himself out of position, allowing Fox to pop in the easy rebound chance.
For the second straight game, the Wings needed overtime to get the win. With 2:03 left in the extra frame, Fox, at the end of a shift, casually carried down the right boards, picked his spot on the near side, and connected with the back of the net. It gave the Wings their fourth win in a row and their seventh in their last eight games.
Through a silent auction, and donations from ticket sales and concessions, the Wings organization and its fans were able to generate $23,066 for the Help Now! Fund, set up to provide relief for the families of the victims from the February 20 shootings in Kalamazoo.
With Kalamazoo Wings release