Toledo Walleye Weekly Release No. 20: March 13, 2023

Overall Record: 39-15-4-2, 1st Central Division, Current Streak: 18 Unbeaten

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

March 8 at Wheeling (4-1 Win)

March 10 at Kalamazoo (4-1 Win)

March 11 at Indy (2-1 Win)

THIS WEEK’S GAMES (All Times Eastern)

March 17 at Indy at 7 p.m. (6:45 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230)

March 18 at Kalamazoo at 7 p.m. (6:45 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230)

Walleye Notes

Walleye winning streak takes the driver’s seat: Adding three more wins last week, the unstoppable Walleye have gone 3-0-0 for five consecutive weeks. With their 16th straight win coming Saturday in Indy, Toledo is now tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in ECHL history. Throughout this 16-game stretch, the Walleye have outscored their opponents 66-15 and recorded six shutouts, two of them coming consecutively on the road in Rapid City on February 17 and 18.

Road warriors: Despite Toledo’s success both at home and on the road as of late, the Walleye have proven themselves to be a road team all season with a league lead of 24 wins. One big contributor to this dominating success is the Toledo penalty kill, currently sitting first on the road at 88.3% and first overall at 85.4%. This season, the Walleye have allowed the least power play goals in the league with just 30.

Revenge tour loading: Toledo became the first team to clinch a spot in the 2023 Kelly Cup Playoffs on Friday night thanks to a 4-1 win in Kalamazoo and Wheeling's regulation loss in Fort Wayne. This is the seventh consecutive season in which the Walleye have secured a playoff spot. After seeing an unfortunate end to their playoff run in game five of the Kelly Cup Finals last year, the Walleye are more motivated than ever to bring it all home this year. Toledo is one of three teams that have a playoff spot secured after the weekend. Idaho and Cincinnati, also both in the Western Conference, are the two others looking ahead to the postseason.

A natural in the net: After spending the previous weekend with Grand Rapids, John Lethemon returned to the Walleye lineup last week and didn’t skip a beat. The 26-year-old Michigan native has established a career-best 14-game winning streak over the past two months, allowing only 14 goals and recording four shutouts, two of them in back-to-back starts on February 18 and 25. Throughout this impressive campaign, Lethemon has recorded a 1.00 goals against average and a 0.965 save percentage. He currently leads all goaltenders in the league with a 1.99 goals against average in 26 starts this season. Just over a week ago, Lethemon earned his first NHL contract, a one-year deal with Detroit.

Running it back: The Walleye will play only two games this week, Friday night in Indy and Saturday night in Kalamazoo. After defeating the Fuel in a tight 2-1 game last Saturday on the road, the Fish improved their record over Indy to 3-1-0 with only two matchups remaining in the regular season. On Saturday night, it’s back to Kalamazoo where Toledo took a 4-1 victory last Friday night. With 11 games complete and just three remaining, the Walleye own a 7-3-1 advantage over the K-Wings this season.

Walleye Player of the Week:

Conlan Keenan (3 goals, 1 assists = 4 points)

Walleye Goaltender of the Week:

John Lethemon (2-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .964 save %)