Cossa and Gosselin shine in 2-1 road win against Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Despite going zero for nine on power plays and being outshot in every period tonight, the Walleye pulled off the 2-1 win in Fort Wayne. 

Power plays and penalty kills were at an all-time high for both teams throughout tonight's Walleye win. The first penalty came just 33 seconds in when Mitchell Heard headed to the box for roughing after instigating a scuffle behind Kalamazoo's net. 

With nine seconds remaining in the Walleye penalty kill, Fort Wayne's Shawn Boudrias earned the Komets their first penalty of the game when he put his glove to Cole Fraser's face in front of Toledo's net. The Komets allowed only one Walleye shot during the penalty kill. 

Toledo's second penalty kill came at the 6:52 mark when Lukas Craggs headed to the box for interference. At the 8:14 mark, Komets forward Tye Felhaber scored Fort Wayne's only goal of the game from the left circle off passes from Drake Rymsha and Joshua Winquist.

Felhaber's goal was just the fourth of 15 uninterrupted shots for Fort Wayne in the first period alone. Shortly after a neutral zone faceoff between Mitchell Heard and Drake Rymsha, the Komets forward fell to the ice. Fort Wayne's Felhaber approached Heard and gloves were briefly dropped before the linesmen intervened. Heard was ultimately given two minor penalties for slashing and roughing. 

The penalties just kept coming as Toledo's Kurt Gosselin and Fort Wayne's Louie Rowe began fighting seconds after a faceoff in the Walleye defensive zone at 14:13. Both players were given five-minute majors with the addition of an instigating minor for Rowe.

The Komets earned themselves another penalty at the 18:49 mark for tripping. This allowed the Walleye to end the first and start the second period on the power play. 

Although the Walleye were unable to get on the board with the man advantage, they tied it up on an equal strength goal at 3:45 of the second. Brett Boeing pushed the puck up to Joseph Nardi at the bottom of the right circle who then found Kurt Gosselin in front of the net to secure his second goal in two games.

The penalties continued into the second when Toledo's Ryan Lowney was called for holding at 5:35. The Fort Wayne power play was cut short when Stefano Giliati headed to the box for high-sticking at 7:06. 

Several minutes later, the Walleye went back on the penalty kill as Thomas Ebbing was called for interference. Fort Wayne registered two shots on the power play, but Cossa continued making big saves for the Fish. 

The final penalty of the second period came against Fort Wayne's Drake Rymsha at 17:16 for holding. Toledo allowed zero shots on the Komets man advantage.

As expected, the penalties got off to a quick start in the third as Drake Rymsha ended back up in the penalty box for hooking. Fort Wayne was able to kill off yet another penalty, only allowing two Toledo shots. 

In the third minute of the final period, Joseph Nardi found himself battling for the puck in the corner to the right of Kalamazoo's net. With the help of Gordie Green, the puck was poked free and picked up by John Albert. 

Albert found Nardi who then found Green as he went around the back of Ryan Fanti's net and found Kurt Gosselin in front of the net for a one-timer goal.

Fort Wayne managed to register seven straight shots on goal after Toledo took the lead, but Cossa remained consistent. The final two penalties of the game came against Stefano Giliati at 8:32 and Benjamin Gagné at 11:09 for roughing. Fort Wayne battled to stay in the game, allowing no shots during either Walleye power play. 

Komets goaltender Ryan Fanti headed to Fort Wayne's bench at the 19-minute mark. Despite a few very close chances for the Komets in the final minute, Toledo held on to break their two-game losing streak.

With Fort Wayne earning the 41-22 shot advantage, Sebastian Cossa earned a new season high of 40 saves in tonight's win. His previous record was 26 saves against Wheeling at home on November 9. This was also the first game this season in which Kurt Gosselin recorded two goals and the second in which Joseph Nardi notched two assists. Brett Boeing earned his first point of the season with an assist on Gosselin's second period goal.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1) TOL - K. Gosselin (2G)

2) TOL - S. Cossa (40SV)

3) FW - T. Felhaber (1G)

Up Next:

The Walleye are playing their third game in four days on Saturday, November 12, as they will look to earn their first win on home ice this season. The game between Toledo and Kalamazoo is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.