Sawchuk sends Walleye past Komets in Saturday shootout win

FORT WAYNE, IN – The Toledo Walleye defeated the Fort Wayne Komets in a 3-2 shootout victory on Saturday night at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

What Happened:

The Toledo Walleye hit the road for a date with the Fort Wayne Komets for their first road game since November 10.

Jan Bednar would make his third consecutive start defending the Walleye net, with Matt Anderson and Will Cullen on the defense. Sam Craggs, Conlan Keenan and Colin Theisen would lead the Toledo attack.

Tyler Parks would start between the pipes for the Komets, with Darien Kielb and Noah Ganske leading the defense. Alexis D’Aoust, Tristan Pelletier and Jake Chiasson would man the Fort Wayne attack.

The Walleye would strike paydirt first as Craggs found the back of the net, with Theisen grabbing an assist at 6:15.

Exactly one minute later at 7:15, the Fish struck again as Riley Sawchuk found the net for his second goal in as many games with the Walleye. Cullen and Anderson were the helping-hands on the score.

There would be four-on-four hockey at 8:29 after Riley McCourt and Jack Gorniak were sent to the Toledo and Fort Wayne penalty boxes respectively. McCourt was assessed a Tripping minor, while Gorniak was sent away for Diving/Embellishment.

The Walleye would get their first power play chance at 17:56 when Jake Johnson was sent away for Hooking for the Komets.

The Komets would get on the board at 19:11 when Gorniak would score a shorthanded goal off of a pass by Ganske to bring it to 2-1 Toledo.

That would wrap the action in the first 20 with the Walleye holding a 2-1 lead. The Walleye outshot the Komets 17-6 in the period. Toledo was 0/1 on the power play while Fort Wayne did not have an opportunity.

The Komets would start the second period action by tying it up at 4:10 courtesy of Matt Wedman. Ganske and Kielb assisted the equalizer. Ganske’s assist was his second of the night.

The Walleye would get their next power play at 6:03 when Morgan Adams-Moisan would be sent away for Tripping, but they could not convert.

The Fish would then get a third man-advantage opportunity at 9:53 after Wedman was sent to the box for Tripping.

That would wrap the action from the second 20 with a 2-2 tie heading to the third frame. The Walleye and Komets each recorded 13 shots in the second period. Toledo was 0/2 on the power play in the period while Fort Wayne did not have a chance.

The third period action would begin with a pair of penalties at 6:42, meaning four-on-four hockey. Thomas Farrell would be assessed a Slashing minor for Toledo, while Ganske was caught for Cross-Checking for Fort Wayne.

The Walleye would net their fourth man-advantage at 12:11 when Shawn Szydlowski was sent to the penalty box for Slashing. The Walleye could not convert.

The Komets would get their first power play chance of the night at 17:21 when Adrien Beraldo was assessed a High-Sticking minor. That would be Toledo’s first penalty of the night, and it gave Beraldo his 200^th career penalty minute.

The successful penalty kill would send the contest to overtime.

That would wrap the action from the third 20 with Toledo and Fort Wayne tied 2-2. The Walleye outshot the Komets 10-2 in the period and 40-21 cumulatively. Toledo and Fort Wayne were both 0/1 on the power play in the period.

The overtime action would begin with another power play chance for the Walleye after the Komets were called for Too-Many-Men, meaning four-on-three hockey for two minutes.

The Komets would successfully kill off the penalty and send it to a shootout.

The Walleye outshot the Komets 6-5 in overtime and Toledo was 0/1 on the power play while Fort Wayne did not have an opportunity.

D’Aoust would shoot first for the Komets in the shootout, and his shot would be saved by Bednar.

Brandon Hawkins would shoot first for the Walleye and he could not sneak it past Parks.

Jack Dugan would try to finesse his way past Bednar but was denied.

Orrin Centazzo tried to slide one between the legs of Parks and couldn’t sneak it through.

Ture Linden would be the third Fort Wayne shooter, and was blocked by Bednar.

Keenan would follow for Toledo and was refused by Parks.

Wedman tried to sneak one past Bednar and Bednar stood tall.

Sawchuk snuck one between the legs of Parks for the game-winning shootout goal!

The Walleye took the shootout 1-0 and claimed the 3-2 shootout win over the Komets.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1. Riley Sawchuk (1G, GWG/SO) – TOL
2. Noah Ganske (2A) – FW
3. Tyler Parks (44SV, SOL) - FW

What’s Next:

The Walleye will continue their road trip as they will head to Indianapolis for a matchup with the Indy Fuel tomorrow, November 19, 2023, at Indiana Farmers Coliseum with puck drop coming at 4:00 pm ET.