K-WINGS CONTINUE WINNING WAYS, PLAY 2 ON ROAD THIS WEEK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 3, 2023

K-WINGS CONTINUE WINNING WAYS, PLAY 2 ON ROAD THIS WEEK

 Kalamazoo earned two more wins, embarks on final road trip of the season.

OVERALL RECORD:  27-35-4-0

LAST WEEK:  2-1-0-0

KALAMAZOO, MI - The Kalamazoo Wings, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets, play two contests on the road this week. First, Kalamazoo travels to face the Fort Wayne Komets on Friday, followed by a matchup with the division-leading Cincinnati Cyclones in Cincinnati on Saturday.

Last week, the K-Wings went 2-1-0-0 (4-3, 1-4, 3-2 OT).

First, Kalamazoo welcomed the Fort Wayne Komets to Wings Event Center on Friday and won 4-3. The K-Wings struck first with goals by Brad Morrison and Justin Murray in the last four minutes of the first period. The Komets struck back with a goal in the opening minute of the second frame, but Ayden MacDonald scored just 44 seconds later to push Kalamazoo’s lead back to two. Two goals in the first four minutes of the third by Fort Wayne tied the game at three, but Justin Taylor scored the game-winning goal with a 5-on-3 advantage at the 9:52 mark. Justin Murray finished with three points (1g, 2a), marking a new career high in single-game points and single-season assists for the captain.

Then, the Iowa Heartlanders came to Kalamazoo and won by a score of 4-1 on Saturday. The game was scoreless for the first 37 minutes, but Iowa scored late in the second period to grab the 1-0 lead. The Heartlanders added on with another goal at the 2:19 mark of the third and again shorthanded at the 16:19 mark. Kalamazoo refused to go down easy, with Justin Taylor then scoring on the power play with just over a minute left, but Iowa scored an empty-net goal to seal the game.

Finally, Kalamazoo traveled to face the Indy Fuel on Sunday and used strong special teams play to earn a 3-2 OT victory. Robert Calisti scored his first goal as a K-Wing with an overtime winner on a power play that carried over from regulation. The Fuel opened the scoring, while skating 4-on-4 at the 12:10 mark of the first. Kalamazoo’s power play unit then went to work in the second with rookie forwards Ben Copeland and Aidan Spellacy scoring a pair of goals that launched the K-Wings out on top. Spellacy’s went in the books as his first professional goal. Indy then responded with a power play goal of its own in the third to force overtime. Hunter Vorva made his first start in 30 days and played strong in net, finishing with 27 saves on 29 shots faced in the win.

UPCOMING EVENTS IN DETAIL

The K-Wings play two games this week with both on the road. Next weekend, the K-Wings have two home games in three days to finish the 2022-23 regular season.

First, on Friday, Apr. 14, the K-Wings host the Toledo Walleye for ‘Fan Appreciation Night & $3 Friday’ at 7:00 p.m. EDT at Wings Event Center. It’s the last $3 Friday of the season, and we want to celebrate you, the fans! We’ll supply the $3 beers, sodas and hot dogs and all you need to do is come cheer on your favorite team. We’ll also be giving away a free team poster when you arrive, and stick around after the game as the K-Wings will be presented with their annual end-of-the-season team awards.

Finally, on Sunday, Apr. 16, the Indy Fuel are in town to face Kalamazoo for the ‘Earth Day’ game at 3:00 p.m. EDT at Wings Event Center. It’s the last game of the regular season for the K-Wings, and what better way to show our appreciation to the one who created ice, than to celebrate Mother Nature and Earth Day. Stick around after the game, too, because we're hosting the last K-Wings jersey auction of the season!

RESULTS

Friday, Mar. 31 – Fort Wayne 3, Kalamazoo 4 (Wings Event Center - Kalamazoo, MI) | Box Score

>>  The Kalamazoo Wings (26-34-4-0) took it to the Fort Wayne Komets (32-25-4-3) and fended off a third-period charge on their way to a 4-3 victory on Friday at Wings Event Center. Justin Murray led the K-Wings with a goal (4) and two assists (25, 26) for the first three-point game of his career. Justin Taylor (17) scored the game-winning goal at the 9:52 mark of the third period. Kalamazoo opened the game’s scoring at the 16:43 mark of the first off the stick of Brad Morrison (13), who earned his first goal as a K-Wing as well in the process. Murray then found the back of the net just 2:15 seconds later to make it 2-0 Kalamazoo. The Komets trimmed the lead to one in the opening minute of the second, but Ayden MacDonald (6) scored his first goal with the K-Wings just 44 seconds later to extend the lead back to two. Fort Wayne then scored at the 1:53 and 3:22 marks of the third to tie the game. But the K-Wings responded with more offense the rest of the way, outshooting the Komets 40-26 in the contest. Evan Cormier (10-18-3-0) was stout in net throughout the evening, making 23 saves on 26 shots faced, and helped Kalamazoo to a perfect 5-for-5 performance on the penalty kill with some highlight-reel rejections.Saturday, Apr. 1 – Iowa 4, Kalamazoo 1 (Wings Event Center - Kalamazoo, MI) | Box Score

>>   The Kalamazoo Wings (26-35-4-0) played tight defensively versus the Iowa Heartlanders (19-33-13-1), but unfortunately fell Saturday at Wings Event Center, 4-1. The K-Wings and Heartlanders skated through a fast and clean first period with no goals and no penalties. Iowa scored first at the 17:40 mark of the second. Early in the third period, the Heartlanders struck again at the 2:19 mark to make it a two-goal advantage. Iowa then scored shorthanded at the 16:19 mark. Kalamazoo wasn’t done just yet, though. Justin Taylor (18) deflected in a one-time shot by Luke Morgan (16) on the power play at the 18:46 mark to get the K-Wings on the board. The Heartlanders scored an empty-net goal with seven seconds remaining to finish the scoring on the evening. Evan Cormier (10-19-3-0) made several key stops to keep Kalamazoo close throughout the contest, finishing with 34 saves on 37 shots faced.

Sunday, Apr. 2 – Kalamazoo 3, Indy 2 (OT) (Indiana Farmers Coliseum - Indianapolis, IN) | Box Score

>>   The Kalamazoo Wings (27-35-4-0) outlasted the Indy Fuel (39-23-5-0) in overtime, utilizing strong special teams play to pick up the 3-2 OT victory Sunday at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Robert Calisti (11) scored his first goal in a K-Wings uniform with the overtime winner, blasting a one-timer from between the circles on a power play that was carried over from regulation. The K-Wings scored all three of their goals in the contest on the power play and went 5-for-6 on the penalty kill. Indy opened the scoring, while skating 4-on-4 at the 12:10 mark of the first, and maintained the 1-0 lead through the end of the period. But Kalamazoo struck back in the second, as Ben Copeland (4) took the puck around the world in the offensive zone before sending a wrist shot into the top-left corner for a goal at the 14:25 mark. Less than two minutes later, on the power play once again, Aidan Spellacy (1) scored his first professional goal to put the K-Wings in front. The Fuel wouldn’t go quietly, scoring a power play goal at the 8:47 mark to tie the game and hanging on for dear life defensively to the end, as Kalamazoo made a strong push late in regulation, to force overtime. Hunter Vorva (11-9-1-0) made his first start in 30 days and didn’t miss a beat, making 27 saves on 29 shots faced in the victory.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Friday, Apr. 7 – Kalamazoo at Fort Wayne, 8:00 p.m. EDT – Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (Fort Wayne, IN)

Saturday, Apr. 8 – Kalamazoo at Cincinnati, 7:35 p.m. EDT – Heritage Bank Center (Cincinnati, OH)

ON THE MOVE

Mar. 27 - Goaltender Pavel Cajan was recalled from loan by Cleveland (AHL)

Mar. 31 - Defenseman Brendan Bushy was signed to a standard player contract by Kalamazoo

Mar. 31 - Forward Aidan Spellacy was signed to a standard player contract by Kalamazoo

FAST FACTS

·           Defenseman Justin Murray recorded the first three-point game of his professional career with a goal and two assists in Friday’s win versus Fort Wayne

·           Rookie forward Aidan Spellacy scored his first professional goal in Sunday’s victory at Indy

·           Rookie defenseman Connor Fedorek recorded his first professional point with an assist on Ayden MacDonald’s goal in Friday’s victory over Fort Wayne

·           Defenseman Robert Calisti scored his first goal as a K-Wing with the game-winning goal in overtime on Sunday at Indy

·           Forward Justin Taylor tied ECHL HOFer Cam Brown for No. 3 in career ECHL games played (789) on Sunday at Indy

TEAM TRENDS

·       12-0-1-0 when scoring 4+ goals

·       16-10-4-0 in one-goal games  

·       10-2-3-0 when tied after the 2nd Period

STATISTICAL LEADERS

POINTS:              36 – Justin Taylor

GOALS:                18 – Justin Taylor

ASSISTS:            28 – Justin Murray

PLUS/MINUS:    +9 – Robert Calisti 

PIMS:                   99 – Justin Murray

PP GOALS:           8 – Justin Taylor

PP ASSISTS:        14 –  Justin Murray

SH GOALS:            2 – Raymond Brice, Justin Taylor

GW GOALS:           3 – Raymond Brice

SHOTS:               185 – Justin Taylor

WINS:                  11 – Hunter Vorva

GAA:                   2.55 – Hunter Vorva

SAVE %:             .919 – Hunter Vorva

* Currently with Cleveland (AHL)

** Currently with Columbus (NHL)

SPECIAL TEAMS

POWER PLAY:   Last Week – 5/16 (31.3%)

                           This Season – 40/233 (17.2%) – No. 22 in the ECHL                         

PENALTY KILL:   Last Week – 11/12 (91.7%)

                            This Season – 182/233 (78.1%) – No. 20 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 the American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters. Kalamazoo plays their 36 regular season home games at Wings Event Center from October through April.

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