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IHL 2 Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

January 26, 2009 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Game Rewind

Friday, January 23rd Vs Fort Wayne (Kalamazoo 5-Fort Wayne 4 SO)

Kalamazoo, MI - The IHL doesn't pay its players extra for overtime. But for the Kalamazoo Wings this season, a sure two points has been payment enough.

Lucas Drake's tying tally with 53 seconds left in the third pushed the K-Wings and the Fort Wayne Komets beyond regulation, Anthony Battaglia's shootout winner gave the home club a 5-4 victory at Wings Stadium Friday night. The K-Wings' last three victories have come in overtime or in the shootout they are now 7-0 in games that go more than 60 minutes.

Fort Wayne led 2-0 in the second period and then trailed 3-2 in the third before rallying for a one-goal edge until the final minute. The wild contest featured two power play goals, a pair of shorthanded markers and four lead changes.

The traditional rivals combined to play a furious first period that featured everything hockey has to offer - except goals. Nonetheless, the K-Wings and Komets produced countless end-to-end rushes, violent checks and more than a few quality saves.

Fort Wayne generated the better scoring chances in the opening frame, but the sure-handed goaltending of Kalamazoo's Joel Martin and three lucky bounces off goalposts kept the game scoreless in the early going.

The Komets continued to charge the K-Wings net in the second, but when defenseman Jay Holladay went to the penalty box for tripping midway through the period, it seemed the home team would survive the onslaught.

On the resulting power play, a good save by goalie Nick Boucher on Kalamazoo's Jason Robinson led to a two-on-one shorthanded break for David Hukalo and Mathieu Curadeau. Curadeau (16th) took a lead feed from Hukalo, got behind the defense and lifted a backhand into the top shelf for a spectacular icebreaking goal at 11:16.

The Komets continued to force the issue and were rewarded at 16:25 courtesy of an unassisted slapshot goal off the stick of Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn (6th).

Trailing by a pair, it only took the K-Wings a little over a minute to draw even. The hasty comeback was kicked off when Detulleo (13th) took a puck off the left boards into the offensive zone and bore down on the Komets' cage. With Battaglia on right wing waiting for the setup, Detulleo instead walked right to Boucher's doorstep and dumped it in at 18:24.

Then, at 19:43 and with Kalamazoo down a man because of a Blair Stayzer minor penalty, Battaglia drove into the Fort Wayne end with Detulleo (14th) as a sidecar to the right, waiting until the last moment to slide a feed to the captain for an open-net one-timer and a 2-2 score.

Mark Nebus (21st) slammed home a power-play goal from in front at 13:12 and the K-Wings were on their way to an apparent tidy come-from-behind victory. Fort Wayne made things messy on goals 2:19 apart by Guy Dupuis (9th) and Konstantin Shafranov (12th) for a 4-3 lead.

But with Martin off the ice for the extra attacked, Drake (15th) poked home a loose puck from the side of the goal to force OT. Five scoreless minutes later, Battaglia scored to lead off the shootout and it held up as Martin turned aside all three shots in the tiebreaker.

Detulleo and Battaglia each enjoyed three-point evenings for Kalamazoo, while Curadeau and Hukalo matched those efforts on the Fort Wayne side of the ledger.

Saturday, January 24th @ Port Huron (Port Huron 1 -Kalamazoo 0)

Port Huron, MI - After posting five goals last night at home, the Kalamazoo Wings struggled offensively Saturday night at McMorran Place Arena. The K-Wings surrendered a power-play tally in the third and that would be all the Port Huron Icehawks would need to secure the 1-0 victory.

The K-Wings' Joel Martin was solid in net through one period fending off 14 Icehawks shots, most of which came with the man advantage. Kalamazoo killed off four Port Huron power-plays to keep the score even at 0-0 after one.

The march to the penalty box for the K-Wings continued in the second, as did Martin's spectacular play between the pipes. Martin received a little help from Bryan Jurynec while killing off a Jordan Little penalty. After Martin made an initial save Jurynec dove through the crease and tipped the puck out of harms way, preventing an apparent goal.

The Icehawks capitalized on their seventh power-play of the night with a goal that was tipped in by Jamie Carroll (16th) from Jeff Zehr to make it 1-0.

Shortly after Martin thwarted a golden opportunity for the Icehawks by making a glove save, stopping a Port Huron three-on-one chance to keep Kalamazoo within striking distance.

The K-Wings pulled goaltender Martin with 1:36 left, but the Icehawks managed to keep Kalamazoo off the board, defeating the K-Wings 1-0.

Port Huron goalie Ryan Mior, making his first appearance of the season, recorded the shutout for the Icehawks. Kalamazoo only managed 18 shots on the night, their season low.

Sunday, January 27th Vs Flint (Kalamazoo 3-Flint 2 SO)

Kalamazoo, MI - Eight times this season, the Kalamazoo Wings have had to play more than 60 minutes of hockey and in each contest they have claimed victory in overtime or the shootout.

Sunday afternoon would be no different, though, the K-Wings almost forgot the prerequisite for extra hockey - a tie score.

With just 11.1 seconds remaining in the third period, Rod Aldoff (7th) drifted the tying goal home through traffic and Kalamazoo went on to drop the Flint Generals 3-2 in a shootout at Wings Stadium Sunday evening.

Rick Cleaver claimed the only goal of the shootout in the sixth round and goalie Jason Tapp stopped all six Flint attempts as Kalamazoo improved to 4-0 in the tiebreaker. Four straight Kalamazoo shooters hit some part of the goal frame before the first-year player Cleaver came through with a forehand deke.

With their fourth straight overtime/shootout triumph, the K-Wings advanced to within two points of first place Port Huron, pending the conclusion of the Icehawks' Sunday match-up with Muskegon.

Tommy Lange got the K-Wings off to a promising start by jamming home his rookie-best 15th goal of the season at 12:53 of the first. Mark Nebus sprung Lange with a breakaway pass up the center of the ice to set up a one-on-one showdown with Generals goalie Chad Alban. Lange was hooked from behind before he could make a move, but the puck trickled forward into the crease, where Lange was able to poke it over the goal line.

Both teams had multiple power play opportunities early in the second period, but the game reached its midpoint with the score 1-0 in favor of the home team. The contest was being played at a fairly deliberate pace until the Generals stepped on the accelerator courtesy of the IHL's leading goal scorer, Steve Rymsha.

Rymsha, the former Western Michigan University Bronco, lifted the rebound of a Greg Bullock wrister over the blocker of Tapp for a 1-1 tie at 11:58. John DiPace got the secondary assist on Rymsha's 28th red light of the year.

With just under thirty seconds to play in the second, Flint struck again on a seemingly innocent play to carry a 2-1 lead into the final 20 minutes. Rob Voltera (5th) picked up a Kyle Deck bank pass off the right wing wall, stepped into the high slot and tossed a fluttering backhand shot into the goal to stun the Wings Stadium congregation.

Kalamazoo had the better of the play throughout the third period, including a trio of power plays, but generated nothing but frustration until Aldoff's last-minute goal brought the house down. The goal was Aldoff's 99th of his career.

Flint managed just one shot in the final frame as the Generals attempted to hold their one-goal edge.

Both clubs struggled with the man advantage, combining to go 0-for-13 on the power play.

Fast Forward

The Kalamazoo Wings will continue their three-game home stand this Friday, January 30th with a 7:30 p.m. face-off against the Muskegon Lumberjacks. Kalamazoo is 3-4-0-0 versus Muskegon this season and 2-0-0-0 against the 'Jacks at Wings Stadium. With 48 points, Muskegon trails Kalamazoo and Fort Wayne by two points for second place in the league.

On Saturday (01/31), the K-Wings will begin their newest tradition as they host the Bloomington PrairieThunder during the 1st Annual McDonald's Golden Ice Game, presented by McDonald's, WOTV and WIN 98.5 FM. On the season, Kalamazoo is 3-4-0-0 versus Bloomington, who starts the week in sixth place in the league.

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics



International Hockey League 2 Stories from January 26, 2009


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