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Jr. K-Wings Weekly

October 10, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings News Release


Game Rewind- Saturday, October 8th Vs. Michigan Warriors. 7-2 Win.

The Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings used two goals from Robbie Payne to light up the Michigan Warriors for seven goals en route to a 7-2 victory Saturday afternoon at the Borgess Health Rink at Wings West in Kalamazoo.

Only 1:47 into the first period, Kalamazoo jumped out to an early one-goal lead. Chad McDonald scored his team leading seventh of the season when his wrister blew past the glove hand of Michigan goalie, Brach Tiller.

The Warriors struck back quickly though, as they got a contribution from Chris Eckler. Eckler slid the puck past Jr. K-Wings starting goalie, Alex Okicki, who was making his second consecutive start.

Just over two minutes had passed after the Michigan tying goal when Danny Hamburg broke the stalemate with his first of the season. He broke free from the Warriors defense and flipped the puck past the defender on his way to the slot area. His quick shot beat Tiller, and gave the Jr. K-Wings a one-goal lead.

A minute and a half later, Matt Lanzillotti got involved in the scoring mix for the first time of the season. His innocent slap shot snuck through traffic in front of the net, and found twine. The goal would give the Jr. K-Wings a 3-2 lead, and proved to be the eventual game winner.

Five minutes into the second period, Kalamazoo would add to their lead yet again. Trevor Boyd scored his second of the season. The goal was the fourth on fifteen shots for Kalamazoo, enough to pull Tiller in favor of Louis Puig.

Just over four minutes later and working with their first man advantage of the afternoon, Payne scored his fifth goal of the season when he jammed home a rebound that took a favorable bounce from the stick of Brett Beauvais.

Less than a minute later, Payne would score for the second time on the afternoon. Once again, the Jr. K-Wings power play provided space for Payne to let a quick wrist shot go that beat Puig. It was his sixth goal of the season, and his sixth in as many games.

On yet another man-advantage, Kalamazoo would put in their seventh and final goal of the afternoon. Defenseman, Brett Beauvais, notched his first of the season when his slap shot from the point beat Puig.

Michigan added one more before the game would be over, as they struck for their second goal of the game early in the third period. Big bodied, Matus Matis, found himself in front of the Warriors net to pound home a rebound past Okicki.

-MORE- Sunday, October 9th Vs. Traverse City North Stars. 3-2 Win/OT

It required overtime, but the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings completed their two goal comeback with a game winning goal from Kyle Gattelaro on Sunday afternoon at the Borgess Health Rink at Wings West.

Traverse City scored the opening goal of the game off a shot from the point by Zac Dorer. The shot snuck through traffic in front of Kalamazoo goaltender Ken MacLean who was making his first start since his debut, which was an abbreviated outing. The goal for Dorer was his first of the season.

Traverse City added to their one goal lead at the 16:40 mark of the first period. Eric Rivard was screening MacLean and jammed home a rebound to make the score 2-0. The tally was Rivard's team-leading fifth of the season.

Kalamazoo would strike back just two minutes later. Team leading scorer, Chad McDonald, found the back of the net while the Jr. K-Wings were short handed. McDonald added to his goal total to bump it up to eight. Kalamazoo has scored two short-handed goals on the season, both from McDonald. He has been averaging one goal per game on the season.

The second period ended without any scoring, as Kalamazoo had themselves four power play opportunities and failed to capitalize. Traverse City out shot the Jr. K-Wings 9-6 in the stanza, creating a handful of scoring chances, but MacLean stood tall and made all nine saves.

Fresh off a successful penalty kill with less than ten minutes to play in the third. The Jr. K-Wings tied the game at two apiece when Drew Graves scored his third goal of the season when he ripped a wrist-shot past the glove-hand of Traverse City goalkeeper, Kyle Laslo. The scoring would end after the Graves goal, forcing a five-minute overtime.

Just about halfway through overtime, a two-on-one for Kalamazoo resulted in the game-winning goal. Christian George was coming down the right wing side of the ice and slid the puck to the back door, where Gattelaro was waiting to slam it home. The goal was his fifth of the season and his second game winner on the campaign.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings

Goals: Chad McDonald (7 Goals)

Assists: Jacob McDowell (6 Assists)

Points: Chad McDonald (12 Points)

+/-: Matt Wurst (+5)

Penalty Minutes: Chris Hughes (21 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Robbie Payne (4 PPG)

Short Handed Goals: Chad McDonald (2 SHG)

Game Winning Goals: Robbie Payne, Kyle Gattelaro (2 GWG)

Shots: Chris Hughes (34 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Chad McDonald (33.4%)

Goals Against Average: Alex Okicki (1.70 GAA)

Save Percentage: Alex Okicki (.938%)

Looking Ahead

The next weekend features back-to-back matchups with the Port Huron Fighting Falcons. The two day, home and home series will feature a Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon matchup between the North Division rivals. In Kalamazoo's only matchup against the Fighting Falcons this season, they took home a 5-4 victory lead by Jacob McDowell's two goals in a thrilling game at the Borgess Health Rink at Wings West.

Port Huron comes into the weekend series with Kalamazoo with 12 points, which leaves them tied for third with Traverse City, two points behind Kalamazoo. The Fighting Falcon offense is lead by Kody Polin who has scored nine goals on the season. Their primary setup man is Alex Globke. Globke leads the team with eight assists and eleven points.

SPECIAL Teams

Kalamazoo scored seven goals in their five-goal victory over the Michigan Warriors last Saturday afternoon. Six different players scored the seven goals. Three of them (Lanzillotti, Hamburg, Beauvais) notched their first career goals.

McDonald Stays Hot

Chad McDonald added to his team scoring lead this weekend by adding two more goals to his team-leading total of eight. He is averaging a goal per game this season.

Stay Updated All Season Long

Log onto www.pointstreak.com during the course of the season to keep up to date with stats and information regarding the Jr. K-Wings.

Tickets! Get Your Tickets!!

Tickets for all Jr. K-Wings home games are now on sale. Catch all the action as your Jr. K-Wings play the very best the NAHL has to offer. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Wings West office.

Get On-Line

This season, the best way to keep track of the Jr. K-Wings is to log onto www.jrkwings.com. The site has player profiles, information about Wings Stadium events, and much, much more.

Jr. K-Wings on The Air

Catch all the Jr. K-Wings games, home and away, on www.fasthockey.com. The home games will be with the "Voice of the Jr. K-Wings" Joe Roberts. The pre-game will start five minutes before puck drop.

Upcoming Games

Saturday, October 15th @ Port Huron 7:00 PM

Sunday, October 16th Vs. Port Huron 2:00 PM

Friday, October 21st @ Port Huron 7:00 PM

Saturday, October 22nd Vs. Michigan 2:00 PM

Friday, October 28th @ Jamestown 7:05 PM



North American Hockey League Stories from October 10, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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