Fish fend off Heartlanders, claim eleventh victory

TOLEDO – The Toledo Walleye defeated the Iowa Heartlanders 5-3 on Saturday night at the Huntington Center.

What Happened:

The Toledo Walleye welcomed the Iowa Heartlanders into the Huntington Center for Labatt Hockey Night in Toledo.

John Lethemon would defend the home net with Matt Anderson and Will Cullen manning the Walleye defense. Sam Craggs, Conlan Keenan and Kirill Tyutyayev would lead the Toledo attack.

Peyton Jones would be between the pipes for the Heartlanders. David Spacek and Landon Kosior would staff the defense while Will Calverley, Odeen Tufto and Jesse Jacques would spearhead the Iowa attack.

The Walleye would begin the action with the first ECHL goal for Antti Tuomisto at 1:45 to put the Walleye ahead 1-0. Tuomisto’s score was unassisted.

The Heartlanders would even the score at 6:05 when Yuki Miura found the net with some help from Tanner MacMaster and Kosior.

Iowa would come right back and score to take the lead at 7:48, this time it was Tufto finding the net. Calverley and Jacques were the helping-hands.

The Heartlanders would get the first power play chance of the game at 16:23 when Adrien Beraldo was sent to the Walleye penalty box for Cross-Checking. Iowa could not convert the power play.

The Walleye would knot the score with the clocking winding down at 19:48. Mitch Lewandowski would find the net with Trenton Bliss and Brandon Hawkins doing the dishes. That would extend both Lewandowski’s and Hawkins’ point streaks to six games each.

The Walleye would get their first power play as time ran out in the first period, meaning the power play would occur in the second period. Louis Boudon would get sent to the Iowa box for Cross-Checking at 20:00.

That would wrap the action from the first 20 minutes with Toledo and Iowa tied 2-2. Toledo was outshot by Iowa 8-19 in the first period. Toledo did not complete a power play in the first period, while Iowa was 0/1.

The Heartlanders would successfully kill off the Walleye power play to begin the period.

Iowa would get their second power play chance at 19:59 when Cullen was assessed an Interference minor.

A quiet second period would come to a close with the Walleye and the Heartlanders tied 2-2. Toledo was outshot by Iowa 7-13 in the period and 15-32 cumulatively. Neither team completed a power play in the period.

The Walleye would kill off the Heartlanders power play and almost immediately take the lead!

Bliss would find the back of the net at 2:14 on a deflection from a shot by Hawkins. Hawkins and Anderson would notch the assists.

The Walleye would stretch the led to two at 4:25 when Craggs found the back of the net to make it 4-2 Toledo. Beraldo and Tyutyayev each picked up assists on the score.

The Heartlanders would bring it within one at 12:03 when Spacek would find the back of the net. Brett Budgell and Casey Dornbach would get the assists.

Iowa would pull their goaltender to try to tie up the game, but it would backfire as Bliss found an empty net for his second goal of the night at 19:40. Craggs and Keenan tallied the assists on the empty-netter.

That would wrap the final frame of action with the Toledo Walleye claiming a 4-3 victory over the Iowa Heartlanders.

The Walleye were outshot by the Heartlanders 9-13 in the frame and 24-45 overall. The Walleye did not have a power play opportunity in the period and was 0/1 overall, while Iowa was 0/1 in the period and 0/2 overall.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1. Trenton Bliss (2G, 1A) – TOL
2. Sam Craggs (1G, 1A) – TOL
3. David Spacek (1G) – IA

What’s Next:

The Toledo Walleye will remain at home to finish a back-to-back set with the Iowa Heartlanders tomorrow, Sunday, December 3, 2023, at the Huntington Center with puck drop at 5:15 pm ET as the Walleye close out Glow Weekend.