Walleye News and Notes

Finishing on high note: AJ Jenks scored with 15.4 seconds left in the third period Saturday night to even the game at four at Indy. That gave Patrick McCarron a chance in overtime and his wrist shot from the top of the circles found the back of the net for a 5-4 win in the final game of the regular season.

Packing the Center: Toledo set a new Huntington Center record crowd with 8,388 Friday capping an incredible season in downtown Toledo. The Walleye finished the year with a record 273,613 for the season and the highest per game average in Walleye history (7,600). It is the fourth straight that the total number of fans though the gates has surpassed the previous season. It is the first time that Toledo has averaged more people per game than a sellout (7,431).

Back to back 50 win seasons: For the first time in Toledo ECHL history a team has won 50 games in back-to-back seasons. The Walleye won a Toledo ECHL record 51 contests last year and reached the 50 win mark again this year with Saturday’s win at Indy. Toledo has reached 50 wins in three of the past four years and won an ECHL best 198 games since the start of the 2014-15 season (198-69-21).

Nagle collects a new wins mark: Goaltender Pat Nagle stopped 34 shots on Saturday which marked his 37th win of the year setting a brand Toledo ECHL record for goaltender wins in a single season. The old record was held by former Walleye coach Nick Vitucci who won 35 games as goaltender for the Toledo Storm in the 1994-95 season. He finishes the season just one win shy of tying the ECHL record for single season wins by a goaltender.

Season leaders: Forward Tyler Barnes finished the year with a team best 53 points (20G, 33A), and his 33 assists were also the Walleye best. Kyle Bonis ended up the season as the team leader in goals with 27 and Connor Crisp finished up the season as Toledo’s leader in penalty minutes with 95. Both Barnes and Bonis each finished up with a team best six game-winning goals.

Playoff matchup is set: Toledo knows its first round opponent, the Indy Fuel who defeated Kalamazoo 2-1 on Sunday afternoon to clinch their spot in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Toledo went 8-1-0-0 against the Fuel this season, including a perfect 6-0-0-0 at Indianapolis. Five of the nine meetings this season were decided by just one goal including the last two matchups that each went to overtime. Toledo outscored Indy 36-26 in the season series and out shot the Fuel 335-302.

Special teams in the matchup: After starting the season 0-16 on the power play vs. Indy, the Walleye scored PP goals on four of the final 13 times on the man advantage. Toledo finished the regular season ranked fifth in the league in power play at 18.6%. The Fuel enter the postseason with the ECHL’s top power play (22.8%) and they scored six times in 27 chances (22.2%) against the Walleye penalty kill that ranked second this year overall at 87.0%. Indy ranked 19th in penalty kill this year at 82.7%.

Leaders against Indy: Kyle Bonis lead the way for the Walleye against Indy with 11 points (4G, 7A), while Shane Berschbach had 10 points (2G, 8A) and Tyler Barnes finished with five goals and four assists.

Walleye Player of the Week: AJ Jenks (2 goals – 2 assists = 4 points)

Walleye Goaltender of the Week: Pat Nagle (1-1-0, 4.01 GAA, .877 save %)