K-WINGS PLAY 4 IN 5 THIS WEEK, PREP FOR SEASON FINALE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 10, 2023

K-WINGS PLAY 4 IN 5 THIS WEEK, PREP FOR SEASON FINALE 

 Kalamazoo set for Fan Appreciation & Earth Day games.

OVERALL RECORD:  27-36-5-0

LAST WEEK:  0-1-1-0

KALAMAZOO, MI - The Kalamazoo Wings, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets, play four contests this week with two at Wings Event Center. First, Kalamazoo travels to Fort Wayne to face the Komets on Wednesday. Then, the K-Wings match up with the Toledo Walleye for a home-and-home series starting in Kalamazoo on Friday and finishing in Toledo on Saturday. Finally, the K-Wings welcome the Indy Fuel to Wings Event Center for the final game of the season on Sunday.

Last week, the K-Wings went 0-1-1-0 (2-5, 4-5 OT).

First, Kalamazoo traveled to Fort Wayne to battle the Komets on Friday, falling 5-2. The K-Wings earned an early power play, and Justin Taylor opened the scoring with the man advantage at the 2:47 mark of the first. Kalamazoo made it 2-0 with a goal by Kurt Gosselin at the 11:02 mark. But Fort Wayne responded with a goal at the 14:34 mark, and tied the game with a shorthanded goal early in the second. The Komets then took the lead with a goal at the 4:07 mark of the second and extended the lead with a pair of power play goals in the third.

Then, on Saturday, the K-Wings played a thriller against the Cincinnati Cyclones and fell in overtime, 5-4. The Cyclones scored the only goal of the first period and made it 2-0 with another tally at the 15:49 mark of the second period. But David Keefer responded with a goal at the 16:08 mark for Kalamazoo, and Luke Morgan tied the game at two 62 seconds into the third. Cincinnati scored a power play goal at the 9:15 mark to retake the lead. Morgan responded with another goal at 11:10 to tie it at three. The Cyclones again moved in front with a goal at the 16:15 mark, but the K-Wings wouldn’t back down. On the power play and with the net empty, Justin Murray scored with just 7.1 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. After back-and-forth action in the extra period, Cincinnati scored the game-winning goal in the final minute of OT.

UPCOMING EVENTS IN DETAIL

The K-Wings play four games this week with the last two home games of the 2022-23 regular season on Friday and Sunday.

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 we’ll also give away a team poster to the first 1,000 fans. Also, limited  Hungry Howie’s Friends & Family Deals are still available, tap HERE to secure your 4-pack of tickets with tons of incentives for just $34 bucks.

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 we’re celebrating Earth Day. Stick around after the game, too, because we're hosting the final K-Wings jersey auction of the season & the K-Wings will present their annual end-of-the-season team awards. 

RESULTS

Friday, Apr. 7 – Kalamazoo 2, Fort Wayne 5 (Allen County War Memorial Coliseum - Fort Wayne, IN) | Box Score>>

  The Kalamazoo Wings (27-36-4-0) got out to a great start against the Fort Wayne Komets (33-27-4-3), but couldn’t hold on and lost Friday at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, 5-2. Justin Taylor (19) opened the scoring with a power play goal at the 2:47 mark of the first period. The K-Wings added another at the 11:02 mark from Kurt Gosselin (6). Fort Wayne fought back with a goal at the 14:34 mark of the first, followed by a shorthanded goal to tie the game at the 1:22 mark of the second period, and it took the lead with another score at the 4:07 mark of the middle frame. In the third period, Fort Wayne added two more goals on the power play to secure the victory. Evan Cormier (10-20-3-0) made 32 saves on 37 shots faced, including a phenomenal stop in the middle of the second period in which he dove back across the crease after a shot went wide off the end boards to make a glove save on the rebound attempt.

Saturday, Apr. 8 – Kalamazoo 4, Cincinnati 5 (OT) (Heritage Bank Center - Cincinnati, OH) | Box Score\

>>   The Kalamazoo Wings (27-36-5-0) withstood an early punch from the Cincinnati Cyclones (46-14-6-3) to force overtime, but fell 5-4 Saturday at Heritage Bank Center. Justin Murray (5) netted the game-tying goal with just 7.1 seconds left in regulation to send the game to OT. After back-and-forth action in overtime, which included an incredible save by Hunter Vorva (11-9-2-0) after losing his stick, the Cyclones scored the game-winning goal at the 6:13 mark of the extra frame. Cincinnati pulled out to a 2-0 lead with goals at the 11:01 mark of the first and 15:49 mark of the second period, but Kalamazoo was ready to answer. David Keefer (3) scored just 19 seconds after the Cyclones’ second goal to make it a 2-1 game. Then, at the 1:02 mark of the third, Luke Morgan (7) ripped a tough-angle shot that deflected off a Cincinnati defender and in for a goal. The Cyclones responded with a power play goal at the 9:15 mark to retake the lead. But Morgan (8) wasn’t done yet, with a no-doubt wrister from the slot to make it 3-3. Cincinnati regained the lead one more time with a goal at the 16:15 mark to set up Murray’s heroics. Vorva finished with 32 saves on 37 shots faced in the overtime defeat.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday, Apr. 12 – Kalamazoo at Fort Wayne, 7:30 p.m. EDT – Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (Fort Wayne, IN)

Friday, Apr. 14 – Toledo at Kalamazoo, 7:00 p.m. EDT – Wings Event Center (Kalamazoo, MI)

Saturday, Apr. 15 – Kalamazoo at Toledo, 7:15 p.m. EDT – Huntington Center (Toledo, OH)

Sunday, Apr. 16 – Indy at Kalamazoo, 3:00 p.m. EDT – Wings Event Center (Kalamazoo, MI)

ON THE MOVE

No transactions to report

FAST FACTS

·           Forward Brad Morrison has scored seven points (1g, 6a) in eight games played as a K-Wings

·           Rookie forward David Keefer recorded a pair of assists on Friday and a goal on Saturday to push his current point streak to four games (3g, 2a)

·           Rookie forward Luke Morgan scored two goals on Saturday and now has seven points (2g, 5a) in his last seven games

·           Forward Justin Taylor (791) passed ECHL HOFer Cam Brown (789) for No. 3 in career ECHL games played on Friday at Fort Wayne

TEAM TRENDS

·       12-0-2-0 when scoring 4+ goals

·       16-10-5-0 in one-goal games  

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

STATISTICAL LEADERS

POINTS:              37 – Justin Taylor

GOALS:               19 – Justin Taylor

ASSISTS:            28 – Justin Murray

PLUS/MINUS:    +8 – Robert Calisti 

PIMS:                   111 – Justin Murray

PP GOALS:             9 – Justin Taylor

PP ASSISTS:        14 – Justin Murray

SH GOALS:             2 – Raymond Brice, Justin Taylor

GW GOALS:            3 – Raymond Brice

SHOTS:                190 – Justin Taylor

WINS:                      11 – Hunter Vorva

GAA:                     2.65 – Hunter Vorva

SAVE %:             .916 – Hunter Vorva

* Currently with Cleveland (AHL)

** Currently with Columbus (NHL) 

SPECIAL TEAMS

POWER PLAY:     Last Week – 2/9 (22.2%)

                               This Season – 42/242 (17.4%) – No. 22 in the ECHL                         

PENALTY KILL:   Last Week – 6/9 (66.7%)

                               This Season – 188/242 (77.7%) – No. 22 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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