Gresock scores twice in Wednesday matinee loss

TOLEDO – The Toledo Walleye fell to the Kalamazoo Wings 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon at the Huntington Center.

What Happened:

The Toledo Walleye welcomed the Kalamazoo Wings into the Huntington Center for the last School Education Day of the season.

John Lethemon would be between the pipes for the Walleye. Matt Anderson and Will Cullen would staff the defence with Sam Craggs, Conlan Keenan and Kirill Tyutyayev would lead the Toledo attack.

Jonathan Lemieux would defend the net for the Wings. Colin Saccoman and Robert Calisti would fill the defence with Ted Nichol, Jordan Seyfert and Justin Taylor would man Kalamazoo’s attack.

The Walleye would find paydirt first at 10:27 when Chase Gresock put a rebound past Lemieux. Jake Willets and Brandon Kruse would be the helping-hands on the icebreaker.

Gresock would find the net again at 12:08 to stretch the Walleye lead to 2-0. Alexandre Doucet and Kruse added assists to the tally.

That would wrap the first frame with the Walleye leading 2-0. The Walleye outshot the Wings 12-1 in the period, and neither team had a power play chance.

After a quiet first period, the second frame would naturally begin with a penalty.

Keenan and Calisti were sent to their penalty boxes at :20 for Cross-Checking and Roughing respectively. The two teams would play four-on-four hockey.

Four-on-four would drop to four-on-three for just 18 seconds as Brandon Hawkins would be sent to the Toledo box for a Holding the Stick minor at 2:08.

The Walleye were able to kill off the penalties to thwart the Wings first power play chance.

The Walleye would get their first power play chance at 6:25 when Tanner Sorenson was sent to the Wings penalty box for Cross-Checking. The Wings were able to kill off the power play.

An object wound up on the ice, and Tyutyayev removed it from the ice, resulting in a ten-minute Misconduct for Throwing Equipment at 8:43.

Kalamazoo would get their next power play chance at 11:52 when Cullen was assessed a Hooking minor.

Kalamazoo would convert the power play at 12:41 as Taylor would put them on the board with help from Calisti and Kurt Gosselin.

The Wings would knot the score at 2-2 at 15:01 when Calisti put one past Lethmon from Erik Bradford and Ty Glover.

Adrien Beraldo and Chaz Reddekopp were both sent to the penalty boxes for Toledo and Kalamazoo respectively. Both were assessed Roughing minors at 16:34.

Kalamazoo would take the lead at 17:03 when Saccoman sniped one into the net, this time it was Brad Morrison and Bradford doing the dishes.

The Wings would open the lead to 4-2 at 17:55 when Gosselin found the net, with Derek Daschke and Joshua Passolt getting the assists.

That would draw the second period to a close with the Wings leading the Walleye 4-2.

The Walleye were outshot 7-18 in the second period by the Wing, and shots were even at 19-19. Toledo was 0/1 on the power play in the period, while Kalamazoo was 1/2.

The Wings would start the third period action with an unassisted goal by Daschke at 7:05, making it 5-2 Wings.

Kalamazoo would find paydirt again at 8:00 when Glover put one behind Lethemon with help from David Keefer and Gosselin.

The Walleye would get their second man-advantage of the day when Morrison was sent away for Kalamazoo for Tripping at 8:50.

The Wings would get their third power play chance when Kruse was called for Diving/Embellishment at 14:02. The Walleye would kill off the Wings power play.

Kalamazoo would get one final man-advantage at 18:46 when Riley McCourt was assessed a Delay of Game minor. Toledo would kill off that power play chance.

The horns would sound, signaling the end of the game with the Walleye falling to the Wings 6-2.

The Walleye outshot the Wings 12-6 in the period and 31-25 overall. Toledo was 0/2 on the power play, while Kalamazoo was 1/4.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1. Brandon Kruse (2A) – TOL
2. Derek Daschke (1G, 1A) – KAL
3. Chase Gresock (2G) - TOL

What’s Next:

The Toledo Walleye will remain at home for their next game on Friday, December 8, 2023, against the Cincinnati Cyclones with puck drop coming at 7:15 pm ET. That night will be the Teddy Bear Toss, as well as a Spike Tunnel Ornament giveaway for the first 2,000 fans.