FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 31, 2020

SOLID EFFORT COMES UP SHORT AS KALAMAZOO FALLS IN TOLEDO

K-Wings pull within one three different times, but see four-game point streak snapped in first loss of road trip.

Box Score

TOLEDO, OH – A late penalty shot goal from Josh Kestner stopped the Kalamazoo Wings’ (16-21-4-1) comeback effort in its tracks Friday in a 6-3 loss to the Toledo Walleye (25-12-3-1) at the Huntington Center. The loss snapped Kalamazoo’s four-game point streak and three-game winning streak in the fifth game of a season-long six game road trip.

The Walleye struck first when Alex Kromm won a corner battle and fed a pass into the left face-off circle. The initial shot was blocked, but Kromm buried the loose puck into the back of the net. Toledo added to its lead when Kevin Spinozzi fired a puck the length of the ice and T.J. Hensick beat the icing, before playing the carom off the corner boards by firing a one-timer past Jake Kielly.

The K-Wings closed the gap to one when Matt Iacopelli fired a shot past Billy Christopoulos from the right circle at the end of a 3-on-2 rush, set-up by Justin Taylor and started by Matt VanVoorhis. The Walleye answered just 14 seconds later, however, when Kevin Spinozzi fired a shot from the point that deflected off of a Kalamazoo stick and over Kielly’s shoulder to give Toledo a 3-1 lead after two.

Defenseman Zach Frye brought the K-Wings back to within one with a blast from the right point on power play 1:06 into the third period. But Toledo answered on a power play of their own when Hensick fired a shot past Kielly from the right circle for his second of the game.

Austin Farley then made it 4-3 when he snuck a backhander through the legs of Christopoulos with 6:45 left in regulation. The K-Wings received a four-minute power play in the final five minutes when Josh Winquist was called for spearing, but Kestner was upended on a short-handed breakaway to draw the penalty shot ruling. He scored to make it 5-3 with 3:34 left, and Shane Berschbach added an empty net goal to complete the scoring.

Kalamazoo finishes off a season-long six game road trip Saturday at 7:35 p.m. against the Cincinnati Cyclones at Heritage Bank Center. Catch all the action on 1660 AM in Kalamazoo or ECHL TV online, with pregame coverage starting at 7:15 p.m.

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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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