Walleye complete four-goal comeback, but fall in shootout

TOLEDO – The Toledo Walleye fell to the Iowa Heartlanders in a 5-4 shootout loss on Sunday evening at the Huntington Center.

What Happened:

The Toledo Walleye welcomed the Iowa Heartlanders into the Huntington Center to finish out the weekend slate.

Jan Bednar would defend the home net, with Matt Anderson and Will Cullen leading the Walleye defence. Sam Craggs, Conlan Keenan and Kirill Tyutyayev would start on the Toledo attack.

Peyton Jones would be between the pipes for the Heartlanders. Chris Lipe and Ben Brinkman would staff the defence while Casey Dornbach, Adam Goodsir and Brett Budgell would man the Iowa attack.

The Heartlanders would get the action started with a goal at 5:02 by Davis Koch with Louis Boudon and Jake Durflinger.

The Walleye would get their first power play chance at 13:07 when Robbie Stucker was sent to the Iowa penalty box for High-Sticking. The Heartlanders would successfully kill off the penalty.

The Heartlanders would get their first power play chance at 19:00 when Craggs was sent to the Toledo box for Boarding. Only half of the power play would be completed during the period.

That would wrap the action from the first 20 minutes with the Heartlanders leading the Walleye 1-0.

Toledo outshot Iowa 12-11 in the first period. The Walleye were 0/1 on the power play, while the Heartlanders did not complete a power play during the period.

Iowa would begin the second period by converting the power play at :42. David Spacek would find the net for the second time in as many days. Stucker and Budgell netted the assists on the score.

The Heartlanders would get their next man-advantage at 2:00 when Darian Pilon was sent to the Toledo box for Hooking. Iowa would convert the power play again at 3:56. This time it would be Koch with his second of the game with Odeen Tufto and Landon Kosior assisting the tally.

Iowa would find the net a third time in the period as Budgell would put one past Bednar unassisted at 8:58.

Iowa would get another power play at 12:38 when Adrien Beraldo was assessed an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty. Both Beraldo and Dornbach were then assessed five-minute majors for Fighting for their respective teams.

Another power play chance would get added on for Iowa when Riley McCourt would be assessed an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty and a Slashing minor at 13:56. Will Calverley would also get assessed a Slashing minor for Iowa. But the double power play meant five-on-three hockey.

As the first power play was killed off, Iowa would have a player sent to the box at 15:15, as Koch was assessed a Roughing minor, which meant four-on-four hockey and the end of the second Iowa power play.

The Walleye would get on the board at 15:36 when Anderson would find the net from Antti Tuomisto and Craggs.

The Walleye would return to full-strength, giving them their second power play chance although abbreviated. Iowa would kill off the shortened power play.

Iowa would get a five-on-three power play at 18:52 when Keenan was assessed a Tripping minor, along with the bench being assessed Unsportsmanlike Conduct. That power play would carry over into the third period for the Heartlanders.

That would wrap the second frame with the Heartlanders leading the Walleye 4-2.

Toledo was outshot by Iowa 9-17 in the second period and 21-28 cumulatively. The Walleye were 1/1 on the power play in the period, while Iowa was 2/4 on completed power plays in the period.

The third period action would begin with the Walleye killing off the remainder of the five-on-three advantage.

The Walleye would get their next man-advantage at 2:08 when Justin Wells was sent to the Iowa penalty box for Cross-Checking. Chase Gresock and Wells were also each assessed five-minute majors for Fighting.

It would then drop to five-on-three hockey for the Walleye at 3:41 after Durflinger was sent to the Heartlanders box for Slashing.

The Walleye would convert the five-on-three power play at 4:39 when Craggs found the net for the second time of the game, this time from Cullen and Alexandre Doucet.

The Walleye would get their fifth man-advantage of the game at 14:24 when Stucker was sent away for Delay of Game.

The Walleye would convert the power play at 15:46 to come all the way back to tie it at 4-4. Brandon Kruse lit the lamp on the equalizer, with Trenton Bliss and McCourt being the helping-hands.

That would wrap the action in the third frame with Toledo and Iowa tied 4-4, meaning there would be overtime.

The Walleye outshot the Heartlanders 18-4 in the period and 39-32 cumulatively. Toledo was 2/3 on the power play in the period, while Iowa was 0/2 on completed power plays in the period.

The overtime action would begin with an Iowa power play at 3:56 when Craggs was assessed an Interference minor, meaning Iowa would gain an extra skater, bumping it to four-on-three hockey for the next two minutes. Toledo would successfully kill off the power play.

That would wrap the overtime action with the score still tied at 4-4, meaning there would be a shootout.

The Walleye were outshot by the Heartlanders 3-4 in the period despite outshooting the Heartlanders 42-36 overall. The Walleye did not have a power play chance in the period, while the Heartlanders were 0/1.

Tufto would be the first shooter for Iowa, putting it past Bednar to grab a 1-0 lead.

Lewandowski would shoot first for the Walleye and just couldn’t get it past Jones.

Koch would shoot second for Iowa, finding the net to make it 2-0 for the Heartlanders.

Brandon Hawkins would shoot second for the Walleye and was unable to find the net, meaning the Walleye drop the shootout 0-2 and the contest 4-5. Despite the loss, the Walleye would still pickup one point.

The Walleye outshot the Heartlanders 42-37 in the contest. Toledo was 3/5 on the power play, while Iowa was 2/7.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1. Odeen Tufto (1A, GWG/SO)
2. Sam Craggs (2G, 1A) – TOL
3. Davis Koch (2G) - IA

What’s Next:

The Toledo Walleye will remain at home for a morning matchup with the Kalamazoo Wings on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at 10:35 am as the Walleye host their second and final School Education Day of the season.