Game Day: Midweek Tilt Sends K-Wings to Brampton

GAME #22

Kalamazoo (9-11-0-1) at Brampton (12-10-2-1)

7:15 pm

Watch: ECHL.TV, 

Listen: 1660 The Fan

Last Time Out:

The K-Wings saw their five-game winning streak snapped on Sunday afternoon, 3-1 at the hands of the Cincinnati Cyclones. Sunday's defeat concluded the first of back-to-back three-in-three's for the K-Wings. Cincinnati netted the first and second goals of the night, taking a 2-0 lead just over midway through regulation. Kalamazoo's offense got rolling just shortly after the Cyclones second tally thanks to the penalty kill. Chris Collins connected with Reid Gardiner who quickly snapped a puck into the top right corner, cutting the lead in half. Gardiner's tally was the only one that Kalamazoo was able to sneak past Michael Houser, however. The Cincinnati netminder stopped 22 of 23 K-Wing shots en route to snapping the K-Wings win-streak. Kalamazoo also finished the night scoreless on the man-advantage.

Head-to-Head:

Wednesday's meeting is the second of the season between Kalamazoo and Brampton. The two teams will face off once again on Saturday night at Wings Event Center. The Beast took the first meeting, topping the K-Wings 4-2 on Nov. 10 at Wings Event Center. Zach Saar and Aleksandr Mikulovich each scored for the K-Wings in the defeat, while the Beast got goals from four different skaters. Brampton's Brandon Marino led all skaters with three points (1g, 2a) in the Beast victory. Kalamazoo's Zach Saar and former K-Wing David Pacan also netted multi-point games with a goal and an assist.

After two meetings this week the teams will wrap up the five-game season series with matchups on Jan. 15 at Wings Event Center, before returning to the CAA Centre on Feb. 18.

Scouting the Beast:

Brampton heads into the Wednesday contest after claiming back-to-back victories over Adirondack and Toledo to wrap up a three-in-three. Former K-Wing David Pacan (13-14) leads the Beast averaging over a point per game so far this season. The forward has notched 29 points (14g, 15a) through his first 25 games. He is also the only player to have scored more than ten goals for the Beast this season. Brandon Marino, who leads the team with 19 assists, is second on the team with 25 points (6g, 19a). In net Jake Patterson has appeared in 12 games for the Beast with a record of 4-6-1-0 to go along with a 3.55 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.

League Leaders:

A short-handed goal on Sunday afternoon put the K-Wings back into a tie with the Maine Mariners for the most short-handed tallies this season. With eight short-handed tallies the K-Wings have already surpassed last seasons total of short-handed goals.

In addition Chris Collins picked up an assist on Sunday's goal, extending his league lead to seven short-handed points. Behind Collins is a handful of players spattered across the ECHL who have notched three short-handed points.

Justin Taylor continued his pursuit for the ECHL scoring title over the weekend, netting his 16th goal of the season. Taylor sits three goals back from Utah's Cale Herbert who currently leads the league. The forward has also netted 198 career ECHL goals.

Upcoming:

The K-Wings return home for another three-in-three and conclude a stretch of seven games in ten days. This weekend the K-Wings will see Wheeling, Brampton, and Wichita all make visits to Wings Event Center.

Saturday's contest vs. Brampton is Turner Cup Champions Night as the K-Wings will honor the back-to-back Turner Cup Championship teams from 1979-80 and 1980-81. Members of these teams as well as the Turner Cup itself will be in attendance and available for photos during the game.