FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 29, 2019

K-WINGS SWEEP KOMETS AS WINNING STREAK REACHES FIVE

Dauda scores a pair of goals as Kalamazoo outlasts Fort Wayne 5-4 Sunday at Memorial Coliseum.

Box Score

FORT WAYNE, IN – The first career multi-goal game from rookie forward Adam Dauda helped the Kalamazoo Wings (12-14-3-0) outlast the Fort Wayne Komets (15-11-5-0), 5-4 Sunday at Memorial Coliseum. The win was Kalamazoo’s fifth straight and completed a perfect three-game weekend.

Kalamazoo raced out to an early lead when Dauda stepped into the left circle and snapped a shot over Dylan Ferguson’s glove 1:24 into the opening period. The Komets tied the score at 1-1 momentarily when Taylor Ross danced around a Wings defender in the slot and lift a shot past Jake Hildebrand.

Two late goals gave Kalamazoo a 3-1 lead after one period of play. Zach Diamantoni lifted a shot over Ferguson after getting the Komets’ goaltender to commit after Dylan Sadowy raced to negate a possible icing call. The K-Wings then scored late in a power play when Matheson Iacopelli set up Justin Taylor for a tap-in on the edge of the crease. The goal extended Taylor’s goal streak to five games and was his fourth power play marker in that span.

The only goal of the second period came with a bit of luck as a bouncing puck worked its way beneath the goal line, before Komets forward Brett McKenzie banked it off of Hildebrand and into the net as the K-Wings goalie slid across his crease. Kalamazoo carried a 3-2 lead into the third.

Kyle Blaney struck quickly in the third period to make it 4-2, firing a wrist shot past Ferguson from long distance. The Komets answered again, as A.J. Jenks swept a rebound through Hildebrand’s legs to bring Fort Wayne back to within one. That’s when Dauda added his second of the game, scooping up a second chance and lifting it into the net from the doorstep for the eventual game-winner.

Alan Lyszczarczyk brought the Komets back to a 5-4 deficit with 7:08 remaining, but the K-Wings closed the door from there. Hildebrand stopped 31 shots for his third straight win.

The K-Wings wrap up 2019 with a New Year’s Eve bash against the Indy Fuel at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday at Wings Event Center. Tickets are available at the Wings Event Center box office or online at kwings.com.

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Kalamazoo Wings 3-Packs are now available online! Reserve your tickets for the three biggest games in the best seats with the best eats. Visit kwings.com for more information about all the perks that come with a K-Wings 3-Pack!

The Kalamazoo Wings are a professional hockey team located in southwest Michigan that has been a staple in the Kalamazoo, MI professional sports landscape since 1974. The K-Wings compete in the ECHL and are the AA affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks. Kalamazoo plays their 36 regular season home games at Wings Event Center from October through April.

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