FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 4, 2020

WINGS BATTLE BACK TWICE, FALL IN FORT WAYNE

Two goals from Matheson Iacopelli help Kalamazoo break even two times Saturday, but Komets pull away in the third period.

Box Score

FORT WAYNE, IN – Twice Saturday, the Kalamazoo Wings (12-17-3-0) crawled back to force a tie, but the Fort Wayne Komets (17-12-5-0) pulled away with three goals in the third period to beat the Wings 6-3 at Memorial Coliseum.

The K-Wings fell behind in the opening minute for the second straight game, as Alan Lyszczarczyk banked a shot off of a body and into the net 44 seconds in. Matthew Boudens snapped a shot over the glove of Jake Kielly to make it 2-0 just 4:26 into the game. Jake Hildebrand entered the game for Kielly and stopped 11 of 12 shots the rest of the frame.

Kalamazoo battled back to tie the game at 2-2 when Matheson Iacopelli and Justin Kovacs both scored first period goals. Iacopelli raced in on a breakaway and lifted a shot over Patrick Munson’s glove. Kovacs then cleaned up a rebound after Kyle Blaney threw a shot off of Munson’s outside pad from the right wing wall.

Fort Wayne went back in front before the first intermission as A.J. Jenks deflected a shot in front of the net for a power play goal, making it 3-2.

With 16 shots on goal in the second period, Kalamazoo found a way to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the third. Iacopelli blasted a shot off the crossbar and in with 3:03 left in the stanza for his second multi-goal game of the season.

The Komets pulled back in front with their second power play goal 48 seconds into the third period, a shot from Brady Shaw between the circles. Shaw added a second goal with four minutes left in the game to give Fort Wayne insurance, and Taylor Ross added an empty net goal to game look more lopsided than it actually was.

Hildebrand stopped 28 of 31 shots in relief, but Kalamazoo dropped its third straight in the first weekend of 2020.

The K-Wings next head to Allen, Texas for a pair of games against the Allen Americans Friday and Saturday at 8:05 p.m. ET at the Allen Event Center. Catch both games on 1660AM in Kalamazoo or ECHL TV online, with pregame coverage both nights starting at 7:45 p.m. ET.

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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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