GAME DAY: MONDAY MATINEE IN BRAMPTON

Feb. 18, 2019

For Immediate Release

Brampton, ON.- A three-in-three weekend wraps up on Monday afternoon as the K-Wings square off for a matinee matchup with the Brampton Beast, the final meeting of the season between the teams.

Game #51

Kalamazoo at Brampton

2:00 pm

Watch: ECHL.TV,

Listen: 1660 the Fan

Last Time Out:

A three-goal deficit early was too much to overcome as the K-Wings fell 5-3 on Sunday evening in Toledo. Matiss Kivlenieks made his Kalamazoo debut stopping 21 of 23 shots in relief, while suffering the loss. Kyle Thomas pushed his point-streak to 13 games, while Brendan Bradley ran his to nine-games.

A natural hat trick from Dylan Sadowy in the opening period let the Walleye jump out to the early 3-0 lead before the K-Wings got on the board. Two of Sadowy’s tallies came on the man-advantage putting Toledo up 3-0 by the 14:08 mark of the opening period. Toledo’s third goal of the night ended Jake Hildebrand’s night, as the netminder stopped 12 of 15 shots faced before giving way to Matiss Kivlenieks. With the Walleye on the power play again it was the K-Wings that capitalized with less than a minute to go. On a break-away Kyle Thomas tucked the puck between the legs of Pat Nagle, getting the K-Wings on the board with 12.7 seconds left in the opening frame. Kalamazoo drew within one just a few minutes into the second period. Eric Kattleus pulled up just inside the blue line and sent a pass right to the tape of Kyle Blaney who tapped it past Pat Nagle into the back of the net, pulling Kalamazoo within one. Toledo pushed the lead back to two goals quickly after though. Matt Register’s slap shot from the point just over a minute later gave the Walleye a 4-2 lead 4:54 into the middle frame.

In the third it was the K-Wing power play that brought the team within one once again. Eric Kattelus unleashed a slap shot from straight away that blew past Nagle, pulling the score to 4-3. On a power play in the last two minutes of regulation AJ Jenks iced the win for the Walleye, netting a power play tally to cap off the scoring at 5-3.

Pushing the Streaks On:

Despite having their eight-game point streak as a team snapped on Sunday the K-Wings saw Kyle Thomas and Brendan Bradley extend their individual point streaks. Thomas is on the longest active streak in the ECHL at 14-games. During his 14-game streak the forward has netted 20 points. Reid Gardiner holds the longest streak in the ECHL this season, having a point in 17 straight games. Bradley extended his point streak to nine games, giving himself a point in every game since returning to the lineup.

Final Non-Division Games:

Monday's game against the Beast is the second to last game that Kalamazoo will play against non-Central Division foes before concluding the season with three straight games against the Mountain Division. The matchup with Brampton is the last cross-conference matchup as well. After wrapping up February on the 27th against Toledo the K-Wings kick off a busy March that will see three consecutive three-in-threes, and 15 in division games.

Head to Head:

Monday’s matinee will be the fifth and final meeting between the Beast and K-Wings this season. The teams have alternated victories through the first four games, but Kalamazoo holds the edge having taken a point in three of those four meetings, losing in a shootout on January 11. In recent history Kalamazoo has controlled the series with the Beast, posting a record of 20-7-3-1 against Brampton. Chris Collins leads all available K-Wings with five points (2g, 3a) through the first four games, Tanner Sorenson is right on his tail with three points (1g, 2a). Jake Hildebrand and Keegan Asmundson each faced the Beast once this season, suffering a setback. Brampton’s Brandon Marino leads all skaters with six points (2g, 4a), while former K-Wing David Pacan is tied with Justin Taylor for the series lead with three goals. Former Indy netminder Etienne Marcoux is perfect in two attempts against the K-Wings, surrendering five goals through two victories over the K-Wings, while posting a save percentage of .930.