Gresock's overtime winner sends the Fish home with a sweep

CORALVILLE, IA – The Toledo Walleye defeated the Iowa Heartlanders 5-4 in overtime on Sunday afternoon at Xtream Arena.

What Happened:

The Toledo Walleye closed out the three-game weekend series against the Iowa Heartlanders on Sunday afternoon.

John Lethemon would start between the pipes for the Walleye. Matt Anderson and Riley McCourt would man the defence with Brandon Hawkins, Trenton Bliss and Mitch Lewandowski on the attack for Toledo.

Hunter Jones would defend the home net for the Heartlanders. Chris Lipe and Hunter Lellig would staff the defece, with Jack Durflinger, Will Calverley and Liam Coughlin leading the Iowa attack.

The action would begin with a Walleye power play at 2:40 when Ben Brinkman would head to the Heartlanders penalty box for Interference. The Heartlanders would kill off the power play.

Toledo would get another power play chance at 8:55 when Maxim Cajkovic would be sent away for Slashing. 

The man-advantage would increase to five-on-three for Toledo when Durflinger was sent to the Iowa penalty box for Interference at 9:33.

The Fish would convert the five-on-three power play at 9:55 when Orrin Centazzo found the backside of the net. Hawkins and Brandon Kruse added assists to extend their point streaks to five and seven games respectively.

The Walleye would get their fourth power play chance of the period when Calverley was sent to the Heartlanders box for High-Sticking at 14:34. The Heartlanders would successfully fend off the penalty.

That would wrap the first frame of action in Coralville with the Walleye leading the Heartlanders 1-0.

The Walleye outshot the Heartlanders 14-4 in the period. Toledo was 1/4 on the power play in the frame while Iowa did not have an opportunity.

The Fish would pick right back up in the second period with a goal, this time by Bliss at :27 to extend the lead to 2-0. Anderson and Lewandowski were the helping-hands on the score. The assists extended both of Anderson and Lewandowski’s point streaks to three and ten games respectively. Lewandowski’s ten-game point streak is the longest by a Walleye this season.

The Heartlanders would get their first power play chance of the game at 5:07 when Centazzo was sent to the Walleye penalty box for Interference.

Iowa would convert the power play at 7:05 when Cajkovic found the net from Odeen Tufto and Robbie Stucker.

The Heartlanders would go down and score again at 7:49, this time Louis Boudon finding paydirt. Durflinger and Yuki Miura added assists to the equalizer.

Iowa would take the lead at 14:13 when Boudon lit the lamp for the second time on the afternoon. Casey Dornbach and Cajkovic did the dishes to put Iowa in front.

That would bring a close to the second frame with the Heartlanders leading the Walleye 3-2.

The Walleye were outshot 9-10 in the period, but still cumulatively outshot the Heartlanders 23-14. Toledo did not have a power play chance in the period, while Iowa was 1/1.

Iowa would start the third period by extending their lead to 4-2 at 5:22 as Pavel Novak put one past Lethemon. Tufto and Kevin McKernan added assists to the tally.

The Walleye would bring the deficit back to one at 9:23 when Will Cullen found the net with help from Centazzo and Riley Sawchuk.

Toledo would bring it back to even at 4-4 when Bliss lit the lamp for the second time in the game at 15:36. Lewandowski and Cullen did the dishes on the equalizer.

That would bring a close to the third frame and send the game to overtime at 4-4.

The Walleye outshot the Heartlanders 17-5 in the period and 40-19 cumulatively. Neither team had a power play chance in the period.

The Walleye would seal the deal with a Chase Gresock game-winning goal at 6:04 in overtime to claim a 5-4 Walleye win! McCourt and Kruse assisted the game-winner.

The two teams shot even 2-2 in overtime, but the Walleye outshot the Heartlanders 42-21 overall. Neither team had a power play in the period. Toledo was 1/4 with a man-advantage overall, while Iowa was 1/1.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1. Chase Gresock (1G, GWG) – TOL
2. Orrin Centazzo (1G, 1A) – TOL
3. Louis Boudon (2G) – IA

What’s Next:

The Toledo Walleye will return home for a Labatt Hockey Night in Toledo against the Cincinnati Cyclones on Saturday, December 23, 2023 at the Huntington Center with puck drop coming at 7:15 pm ET.