FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

March 3, 2024 

K-WINGS THROTTLE GROWLERS IN RUBBER MATCH 6-3

Five multipoint affairs & 39 Lemieux saves help Kalamazoo leave Newfoundland with series W.

BOX SCORE

ST. JOHN’S, NL – The Kalamazoo Wings (29-21-3-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, used an Erik Bradford hat trick, four additional multi-point outputs, eight penalty kills and 39 Jonathan Lemieux saves to defeat the Newfoundland Growlers (25-23-7-2) at Mary Brown’s Centre Sunday, 6-3.

With goals 20, 21, and 22 on the year, Erik Bradford (3g) smashed his career single-season high of 19 goals and recorded his second professional hat trick in the win. 

In addition to Bradford, Collin Adams (2g-1a), David Keefer (3a), Josh Passolt, (2a), and Jordan Seyfert (2a) also registered more than one point in the victory.

Goaltender Jonathan Lemieux (14-14-2-0) was stellar and climbed back to .500 with 39 saves on 42 shots against.

Bradford (20) opened the scoring with a tap-in from the blue paint at the 2:43 mark of the first. Chaz Reddekopp (7) and Keefer (26) picked up assists on the pretty tic-tac-toe play that saw Bradford convert as the trailer. 

Newfoundland evened the score just 37 seconds later.

Adams (13) made it 2-1 by firing a loose puck home from the slot on the power play at 10:57.

Adams (14) scored another PPG from the right side at the 13:37 mark. Luke Morgan (9) and Seyfert (9) assisted the extra-man tally by creating chaos around the net. The score marked Adams’ first-career multi-goal game.

Bradford (21) struck from distance with a snapshot from above the right circle at the 8:01 mark of the second. Adams (16) and Seyfert (10) assisted the transition goal. 

Newfoundland cut the lead to two with a shorthanded goal at 18:18.

Collin Saccoman (5) put the game out of reach by potting a rebound from the right circle at the 10:33 mark of the third. Passolt (16) took the initial shot while Keefer (27) notched the secondary assist on the rush.

The Growlers made it 5-3 with a power-play extra attacker goal at 17:21.

Bradford (22) secured his hatty with an empty-netter courtesy of Passolt (17) and Keefer (28) with 1:19 remaining.

The K-Wings finished 2-for-7 on the power play and 8-for-9 on the penalty kill. Newfoundland took the final shot total, 42-27.

Kalamazoo is back in action Friday at 7:00 p.m. EST versus the Indy Fuel (29-19-5-1) for $3 Friday and ‘Dumb & Dumber’ Night at Wings Event Center. Tickets to the game can be purchased HERE.

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‘Mascot Madness’ takes over Wings Event Center on Sunday, March 10! It’s that time of year, again, as Slappy, the K-Wings' iconic mascot, is inviting his friends for “Mascot Madness”! Don’t miss Mascot broomball, as it’s primed to be a must-see during the intermission. And to make the game more special for Slappy, stick around afterward for a post-game skate with Slappy and the players (*$5 skate rentals available).

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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 Vancouver Canucks and the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Canucks. Kalamazoo plays their 36 regular season home games at Wings Event Center from October through April.

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