FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2024
K-WINGS NARROWLY FALLS IN RIVALRY BATTLE WITH WALLEYE
Kalamazoo heads home to see Toledo again for Lavender Ice Saturday.
TOLEDO, OH – The Kalamazoo Wings (6-9-1-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, battled down to the wire before falling to the Toledo Walleye (11-5-2-0), Friday at Huntington Center, 3-2.
Toledo scored first at the 2:56 mark of the second period, but Kalamazoo came right back to tie things up just 39 seconds later.
Joey Raats (1) answered for the K-Wings to even the score with his first goal since Nov. 12, 2019 just 39 seconds after the Walleye took the lead. Quinn Preston (8) took the initial shot, and Ayden MacDonald (4) pushed the rebound to Raats coming down the right circle with the net open on the right side. Preston’s assist gave him 100 ECHL points in his career.
Zach Okabe (5) then gave Kalamazoo a 2-1 lead with a power play goal at the 15:39 mark. Okabe found a wide-open net after the initial shot by Preston (9) pulled the Toledo defense to the left side for Okabe to smack it home from the right circle. Joseph Arntsen (4) earned the secondary assist on the power-play strike.
The Walleye responded with a shorthanded goal at the 17:23 mark in the middle frame to tie it at 2-2. Toledo scored again 2:28 into the third to take the lead.
Jonathan Lemieux (5-6-1-0) was sharp in net, stopping 33 of the Walleye’s 36 shots in the contest.
Kalamazoo heads home for the Lavender Ice / Teddy Bear Toss game for the K-Wings, presented by West Michigan Cancer Center in the second half of the home-and-home set against Toledo at 7:00 p.m. Saturday at Wings Event Center.
All fans will receive limited edition K-Wings Lavender Thunder Sticks as well! Get your tickets HERE.
The Hockey Fights Cancer Ticket Package is BACK for Lavender Ice / Teddy Bear Toss Night versus the Toledo Walleye at 7 p.m. Saturday. Enjoy four (4) tickets to the game and a $20 concessions voucher (4 - $5 vouchers) for $70, with 10% of the proceeds going to benefit cancer research.
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Kalamazoo Wings Group Specials, 3-Pack, and Half-Season Ticket Packages are on sale now. More details, benefits and pricing are available by calling (269) 345-1125.
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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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