K-WINGS WEEKLY - WEEK 9

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 20, 2021

K-WINGS TO PARTICIPATE IN ECHL WINTERFEST

Kalamazoo visits Toledo for unique outdoor game

OVERALL RECORD:  12-10-0

LAST WEEK:  1-2-0

KALAMAZOO, MI - KALAMAZOO, MI - The Kalamazoo Wings, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets, travel to Toledo the day after Christmas to take on the Walleye in the ECHL’s annual Winterfest.

Tough losses and unusual goals defined the K-Wings experience this week. Kalamazoo fell to the Komets 4-2 in a hard-fought game in Fort Wayne on Friday. On Saturday, the K-Wings dropped a score fest 9-4 to the Indy fuel. Kalamazoo bounced back versus the Fuel Sunday with a big third-period rally to come back from down 6-3 to win 8-6 with big contributions from Max Humitz, Jake Slaker, and Raymond Brice.

The K-Wings visit the Toledo Walleye outside at Fifth Third Field at 6:00 p.m. EST for ECHL’s Annual Winterfest in their only game of the week.

RESULTS

Friday, Dec. 17 – Fort Wayne 4, Kalamazoo 2 (Allen County War Memorial Coliseum – Fort Wayne, IN) | Box Score

>> The K-Wings would kick off the scoring, taking advantage of a Komets turnover in the neutral zone. Kalamazoo Forward Tanner Sorenson charged up the heart of the Komets defense and fired a shot past the goalie to give the K-Wings an early lead. The K-Wings scored in the third frame in a 4-on-4 opportunity. A shot from Andrew DeBrincat was deflected and Giovanni Vallati drained the rebound from the left circle to draw Kalamazoo within one. Greaves stopped 30 of the 33 shots he faced in the loss.

Saturday, Dec. 18 – Indy 9, Kalamazoo 4 (Indiana Farmers Coliseum–Indianapolis, IN) | Box Score

>> Kalamazoo got off to a hot start, scoring the first two goals of the game. Just over three minutes into the first frame, Defender Justin Murray made a nice cross-ice pass from the right circle to forward Zach Jordan. Jordan drained a wide-open shot top shelf for his fifth goal of the season. Six minutes later, a slashing call on the Fuel put the Wings on the power play. Logan Lambdin took advantage of a rebounded shot from Jake Slaker to make it 2-0 Kalamazoo. The Indy Fuel responded with three consecutive goals. At the end of the 5-on-3 power play, K-Wings forward Tanner Sorenson would take advantage, redirecting a shot from Erik Bradford to make it 6-3. Zach Jordan capitalized on another 5-on-3, firing a shot from the center of the zone for his second goal of the. The K-Wings pulled goalie Jet Greaves in favor of Trevor Gorsuch in the third frame. Greaves was credited for the loss, stopping 19 of the 26 shots faced. Gorsuch stopped 10 of 12 shots in the final frame.

Sunday, Dec. 19 – Indy 6, Kalamazoo 8 (Wings Event Center–Kalamazoo, MI) | Box Score

>> Forward Logan Lambdin redirected a shot from Justin Taylor for his seventh goal of the season to put Kalamazoo on top 5:11 into the game. A minute later Max Humitz capitalized taking a nice cross-ice pass from Erik Bradford, beating the goalie, and giving the K-Wings a 2-0 lead. Indy responded with two goals of their own to close out the first period and keep things tied. Following an Indy goal in the second frame, Matheson Iacopelli found the net off a face-off to even the game at three goals apiece.  Indy scored twice to close out the second period 5-3. The Fuel scored their final goal midway through the third period before the K-Wings comeback began. Kalamazoo scored five goals, courtesy of Humitz, Raymond Brice, Justin Murray and Jake Slaker, in the final 6:13 of game time to win.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Sunday, Dec. 26 – Kalamazoo AT Toledo, 6:00 p.m. EST – Fifth Third Field (Toledo, OH)

ON THE MOVE

 12/13 – Goaltender Joe Murdaca released from an SPC

12/13 – Goaltender Jet Greaves loaned from Cleveland (AHL) to Kalamazoo.

12/13 – Defenseman Giovanni Vallati loaned from Cleveland (AHL) to Kalamazoo.

12/17 – Forward Max Humitz returned on loan from Grand Rapids (AHL) to Kalamazoo.

12/17 – Forward Jake Gaudet loaned from Cleveland (AHL) to Kalamazoo.

FAST FACTS

·               Tanner Sorenson is in the middle of six-game point streak.

·               Raymond Brice broke a 14-game goal-less streak with 2 goals vs the Indy Fuel on Sunday.

·               Brenden Miller played in his 250th ECHL Game, Erik Bradford played in his 350th game, and Andrew DeBrincat played in his100th ECHL game.

TEAM TRENDS

·               Kalamazoo is 8-2 when they score on the Power Play.

·               The K-Wings are 8-4 when following a loss this season.

·               The K-Wings are 8-4 when scoring first.

 STATISTICAL LEADERS

POINTS:               22 – Justin Taylor

GOAL:                   9   – Justin Taylor, Tanner Sorenson

ASSISTS:             15 – Brenden Miller, Erik Bradford

PLUS/MINUS:     +9 – Andrew DeBrincat

PIMS:                    60 – Brenden Miller

PP GOALS:           6 – Justin Taylor

SH GOALS:           3 – Erik Bradford

GW GOALS:          2 – Erik Bradford, Tanner Sorenson

SHOTS:                 63 – Zach Jordan

WINS:                    7 – Jet Greaves

GAA:                      3.36 – Jet Greaves

SAVE %:                .894 – Jet Greaves

* - currently with Cleveland (AHL)

** currently with Grand Rapids (AHL)

SPECIAL TEAMS

POWER PLAY:    Last Week – 7/14  (50.0%)

                             This Season – 21/86  (24.4%) – 4th in the ECHL                           

PENALTY KILL:   Last Week – 4/13  (72.7%)

                             This Season – 16/68  (76.5%) – 17th in the ECHL

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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 Columbus Blue Jackets and American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters. Kalamazoo plays their 36 regular season home games at Wings Event Center from October through April