Three Fish score a pair as Walleye double Komets

TOLEDO – The Toledo Walleye defeated the Fort Wayne Komets 6-3 on Friday night at the Huntington Center.

What Happened:

The Toledo Walleye welcomed the Fort Wayne Komets into the Huntington Center to begin Pink in the Rink Weekend.

John Lethemon defended the home net for the Walleye. Matt Anderson and Brendon Michaelian manned the defence while Sam Craggs, Conlan Keenan and Brandon Kruse led the Toledo attack.

Ryan Fanti started between the pipes for the rival Komets. Taylor Brierley and Noah Ganske staffed the defence while Ethan Keppen, Alexis D’Aoust and Ture Linden filled out the attack for Fort Wayne.

The action began with a Walleye power play at 3:28 when Marc-Antoine Pepin was penalized for Roughing.

The Toledo power play was cut short and dropped to four-on-four at 3:37 when Kruse was sent to the Toledo penalty box for Slashing.

Fort Wayne struck first during the four-on-four at 4:30 when Keppen barely snuck one past Lethemon to start the scoring. Xavier Bernard and Jack Dugan added assists to the icebreaker.

Both penalties were killed off, resulting in each team beginning 0/1 on the power play.

Fort Wayne got their next power play chance at 9:00 when Craggs was caught Tripping. The Walleye killed off the penalty.

The Walleye got their next man-advantage at 12:14 when Xavier Cormier was penalized for Slashing.

The Walleye converted the power play at 14:05 when Alexandre Doucet sent the puck five-hole and off a pad into the net to knot the game at 1-1. The goal marks Doucet’s fourth in five games. Riley Sawchuk and Craggs added assists to the equalizer.

That wrapped the first frame with the Walleye and the Komets tied 1-1.

The Walleye outshot the Komets 13-8 in the period. Toledo was 1/2 on the power play in the period, while Fort Wayne was 0/2.

The second period action began with the Walleye claiming a 2-1 as Riley McCourt deflected the puck into the net at 8:26. Orrin Centazzo and Trenton Bliss added assists to the tally.

The Fish struck again at 14:08 as McCourt lit the lamp again, this time Brandon Hawkins and Grant Gabriele adding assists.

The Walleye came right down and scored another at 14:58, making it 4-1 Walleye with Hawkins homing a rebound. Bliss and Centazzo each added their second assists of the evening.

That finished off the second set of 20 minutes with the Walleye leading the Komets 4-1.

The Walleye outshot the Komets 10-6 in the period and 23-14 cumulatively. Neither team had a power play chance in the period.

The Walleye kicked off the third period with another score by Doucet at 2:34 to stretch the lead to 5-1. Sawchuk and Mitch Lewandowski added assists to the tally.

Fort Wayne got one back at 5:01 when Keppen found the net unassisted for his second goal of the evening.

The Walleye got a long power play chance at 15:17 when Dugan was hit with a Double Minor, one for Roughing and one for Cross-Checking, as well as a ten-minute Misconduct.

The Walleye converted the first half of the long man-advantage at 16:27 as Hawkins found paydirt for his second goal and third point of the evening. The goal tied Hawkins with Evan Rankin for second most points in Walleye history at 214 points. Bliss and Kruse were the helping-hands on the tally. The assist marked Bliss’ third of the evening.

The Komets killed off the second half of the power play.

Fort Wayne added a consolation goal at 18:21 when Linden scored an unassisted shorthanded goal.

The Walleye closed out regulation on the power play after Daniel Amesbury was penalized for Unsportsmanlike Conduct at 19:10. The penalty was killed off.

The horns sounded with the Walleye claiming a 6-3 victory over the Fort Wayne Komets.

The Walleye outshot the Komets 14-8 in the period and 37-22 overall. Toledo was 1/3 on the power play in the period and 2/5 overall, while Fort Wayne did not have a chance in the period and was 0/2 overall with a man-advantage.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1. Riley McCourt (2G) – TOL
2. Brandon Hawkins (2G, 1A; GWG) – TOL
3. Alexandre Doucet (2G) – TOL

What’s Next:

The Toledo Walleye will remain home to welcome the Iowa Heartlanders into the Huntington Center for a two game series beginning tomorrow, March 2, 2024 with puck drop coming at 7:15 pm ET.