K-WINGS OFFENSE ROARS IN 2ND, BEST WALLEYE AT HOME

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April 14, 2023

K-WINGS OFFENSE ROARS IN 2ND, BEST WALLEYE AT HOME

Kalamazoo scores four goals in the second period, securing one of its best offensive showings this season.

BOX SCORE

KALAMAZOO, MI – The Kalamazoo Wings (29-36-5-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets, caught fire with four goals in the second period versus the Toledo Walleye (44-19-4-3), winning 6-2 Friday at Wings Event Center in front of a Standing Room Only crowd for ‘Fan Appreciation Night.’

The K-Wings pulled away from Toledo with five consecutive goals to cap the scoring on the evening.

Toledo scored first on the power play at the 8:52 mark of the first period, but Kalamazoo wouldn’t stay down for long.

At the 12:50 mark, Coale Norris (12) battled off heavy pressure from the Walleye defense and flicked a wrist shot five-hole to tie the game at one unassisted.

Early in the second period, Toledo scored shorthanded to regain the lead.

But just 36 seconds later, and three seconds after the power play expired, Anthony Collins (4) scored from the left circle to retie the game at 2. On the play, Kurt Gosselin (6) skated with the puck behind the Walleye net and sent a pass to Collin Saccoman (16) at the right point, who set up Collins’ blast.

The K-Wings wasted no time in taking the lead, with Gosselin (7) scoring at the 5:01 mark on what went in the books as the game-winning goal. Ben Copeland (5) made the play with a beautiful pass from the top of the right circle to the crease, where Gosselin met the puck and chipped it up and in. Brad Morrison (17) earned the secondary assist on the game-winner.

Kalamazoo kept the goals coming with Justin Taylor (20) scoring a power play goal at the 10:55 mark. Copeland (6) took the initial shot off of the feed from Luke Morgan (18), with Taylor deflecting the puck into the back of the net. Taylor now has 20-plus goals in 10 of 12 seasons with Kalamazoo.

Then, Brendan Bushy (1) notched his first professional goal with 0.5 seconds left in the second period to make it 5-2. On the play, Conner Fedorek (2) set up Taylor (20) for the initial shot, which went wide and found Bushy’s stick on the left half-boards, where he flung it through traffic for the score.

The K-Wings scored another power play goal off the stick of Ayden MacDonald (7) at the 2:58 mark of the third. David Keefer (4) set up Robert Calisti (19) in the right circle, and he fired a shot that MacDonald deflected into the net.

Hunter Vorva (13-9-2-0) was stout in net throughout the contest, stopping 30 of Toledo’s 32 shots including all 18 chances over the final two periods. Kalamazoo also notched at least one power play goal in its eighth consecutive game.

Kalamazoo heads to Toledo for the second half of the home-and-home Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EDT at Huntington Center.

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This Sunday is 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. The Indy Fuel will be in town, and we're going to have the last K-Wings jersey auction of the season. Get your tickets HERE.

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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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