Walleye ground Wings in 4-1 win

TOLEDO – The Toledo Walleye defeated the Kalamazoo Wings 4-1 on Saturday night at the Huntington Center.

What Happened:

The Toledo Walleye welcomed the Kalamazoo Wings into the Huntington Center for the final time during the 2023-24 regular season for Labatt Hockey Night in Toledo.

Jan Bednar covered the crease for the Walleye. Riley McCourt and Grant Gabriele protected the home zone while Brandon Hawkins, Trenton Bliss and Conlan Keenan spearheaded the Toledo attack.

Hunter Vorva split the steel for the visiting Wings. Jacob Nordqvist and Chaz Reddekopp manned the defense while Evan Dougherty, Luke Morgan and Ayden MacDonald led the Kalamazoo raid.

The action began with a Toledo power play as former Fish Quinn Preston was penalized for Holding at 8:10. Kalamazoo killed off the power play.

The Wings got their first power play chance at 11:56 when Mitch Lewandowski was sent to the Walleye penalty box for Tripping. The Walleye killed off the penalty.

That wrapped the first period action with the Walleye and Wings in a scoreless tie.

The Walleye outshot the Wings 9-7 in the period. Both Toledo and Kalamazoo were 0/1 in the period on the power play.

The second period started with an own goal by the Walleye, credited to Morgan for the unassisted Wings goal at 5:29.

The Fish got their next man-advantage at 8:15 when Connor Walters was penalized for Kneeing at 8:15.

The Walleye converted the power play almost immediately as Lewandowski sniped the equalizer at 8:21. Hawkins and McCourt added helpers to tie the game at 1-1. The assist marked the 300^th point of Hawkins’ professional career, and extended his point streak to 13 games. The goal extended Lewandowski’s point streak to nine games.

The Walleye got another power play chance at 9:22 when Jordan Seyfert was sent to the Wings penalty box for Roughing. The Wings fended off the power play.

The Walleye took a 2-1 lead at 14:16 when Riley Sawchuk buried the puck beyond Vorva. Alexandre Doucet and Adrian Beraldo did the dishes to take the lead.

The Wings earned a man-advantage at 18:00 when McCourt was caught Slashing.

The advantage would soon end as MacDonald was penalized for Hooking at 19:39, dropping the game to four-on-four for the remainder of the period. The Walleye killed off the remainder of the McCourt power play, giving them 1:39 on the power play to begin the third period.

That wrapped the second set of 20 minutes with the Walleye leading the Wings 2-1.

The Walleye outshot the Wings 14-12 in the period and 23-19 cumulatively. Toledo was 1/2 on power plays completed in the period while Kalamazoo was 0/1.

The third period action began with the Wings killing off the remainder of the carried over power play.

The Wings got their next man-advantage at 11:01 when Matt Anderson was caught Holding. The Walleye killed off the power play.

The Walleye added some insurance at 16:17 when Hawkins struck paydirt for his 36^th goal of the season. Doucet and Sawchuk added assists for their second points of the game.

The Fish sealed the deal at 19:00 when Chase Gresock lit the lamp for an empty-netter to make it 4-1 Walleye. Sam Craggs and Brandon Kruse added assists to the finisher.

The horns sounded with the Walleye defeating the Kalamazoo Wings 4-1.

The Walleye were outshot 11-12 in the period, but outshot the Wings 34-31 overall. Toledo was 0/1 on power plays completed in the period and 1/4 overall, while Kalamazoo was 0/1 in the period and 0/3 overall.

Three Stars Sponsored by Local 245:

1. Riley Sawchuk (1G, 1A; GWG) – TOL
2. Brandon Hawkins (1G, 1A; 300^th Professional Point)
3. Jan Bednar (W, 30/31 SV) – TOL

What’s Next:

The Toledo Walleye will hit the road to finish out the season series with the Kalamazoo Wings at the Wings Event Center tomorrow, March 10, 2024, with puck drop coming at 3:00 pm ET.