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ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Hand Nailers First Loss

November 4, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Wheeling, WV- The two top teams in the ECHL's Eastern Conference battled on Friday night and the dust settled the Kalamazoo Wings (5-1-0-0) outlasted the Wheeling Nailers 6-5 and in the process handed the Nailers (5-1-0-0) their first loss of the season.

Entering Friday night, Wheeling averaged a league-best 4.40 goals-a-game, while Kalamazoo was second in ECHL averaging 4.00 goals-a-night. With the two highest scoring teams in the ECHL squaring off, it should have come to a surprise to no one that the first period had its fair share of lamp-lighters.

Needing only 1:17 to register on the scoreboard, Kalamazoo took the early lead when Dean Strong (1st) lifted a backhander over the shoulder of Patrick Killeen.

Responding 28 seconds later, Wheeling knotted the contest with a blue line slap shot from Nick Plastino (2nd).

Following a Wheeling penalty midway into the period, Kalamazoo took advantage with a power-play marker from Sam Ftorek (1st), who extended his point streak to four games with the tally. Patrick Asselin, who earned a secondary assist on the goal, extended his point streak to five-games with the point.

Just 13 seconds following Ftorek's go-ahead goal, Kory Karlander (2nd) extend the K-Wings lead to 3-1 with a wrister just below the circles.

The Nailers cut the lead to a single goal late in the period with a power-play tally from Zack Torquota (2nd). After Riley Gill stopped an initial Zach Hansen slap shot, Torquota jammed in the rebound.

The scoring barrage kept going in the second period, as Asselin netted his team-leading sixth goal of the season with a five-on-three power-play marker 6:16 into the period.

For the second-time in tonight's game, the Nailers responded to a K-Wings goal less than a minute later (52 seconds), this time with a shorthanded breakaway tally from Denver Manderson (1st).

Kalamazoo's special teams kept lighting the lamp in the stanza as Brandon Svendsen (5th) and Trent Daavettila (1st) each netter power-play goals 10 seconds apart in the period to push the K-Wings lead to 6-3.

Assisting on each of the goals were Asselin and Mike Matczak. Asselin's helpers gave him a game-high of four points, while Matczak, who was making his K-Wings debut, earned his first two points as a professional.

In the third period, the Nailers made the game close with goals from Plastino (3rd) and Mikael Bedard (4th), but in the end it was the K-Wings that hung on to the one goal victory to extend their winning streak to three games.

For Game Stats: http://echl.com/stats/official-game-report.php'game_id8868 .

Kalamazoo will conclude a two-game road swing tomorrow, Saturday, November 5th with a 7:35 p.m. encounter at the First Arena against the Elmira Jackals.

The K-Wings will return home this Sunday, November 6th with a 4 p.m. face-off versus the Chicago Express during "Family Hockey Day in the 'ZOO!", presented by Meijer, Pepsi, Charter Communications and the Kalamazoo Gazette. Sunday's game will also be Slappy's Birthday party featuring the Meijer Mobile Playground and a special performance by Kinetic Affect. During all Sunday game this season, all kids (12 and under) will eat FREE and the first 500 kids will receive a FREE Meijer Water Bottle.

Single-game tickets for the upcoming 2011-2012 season are on sale at the Wings Stadium Ticket Office. Ticket Office hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, please call Wings Stadium Ticket Office during regular business hours at (269) 345-5101.

Tickets for all K-Wings home games are $12.90 and $16.90 for adults and only $6.90 for kids ages 12 and under. The price for all K-Wings premium night games (all colored ice games and New Year's Eve game) are just $1 more. Fans can save money by purchasing K-Wings single game tickets in advance because tickets purchased on the day of a game increase by $1.

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ECHL Stories from November 4, 2011


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