ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

January 16, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Kalamazoo, MI- Phillip Grubauer stopped 30 shots including a breakaway from Steven Anthony with seven seconds remaining to guide the South Carolina Stingrays to a 2-1 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings.

The first 18 minutes of Wednesday night's contest were filled with fast-paced, end-to-end action between the two teams. With less than two minutes to play, Justin Taylor scored his team-leading fourteenth of the season to give Kalamazoo a one goal lead. The goal also extended Taylor's point streak to six games.

South Carolina wouldn't be silenced for the whole twenty minutes, as they had a quick rebuttal just over a minute after the Taylor goal. A top of the circle blast off the stick of Stingrays defenseman, Paul Baier (2nd), tied the game at one apiece heading into the locker room after the first stanza.

The second period moved as quickly as the first, but in this frame, it was the goaltenders stealing the show. Kalamazoo's Riley Gill and South Carolina's Grubauer each made twelve saves respectively to keep the opposition scoreless and uphold the 1-1 after forty minutes of play.

South Carolina broke the gridlock 7:21 into the third period with the eventual game-winner from Mike Hamilton (1st), who was playing in his first game with the Stingrays after starting the season in Europe.

The loss snaps Kalamazoo's three-game winning streak and four-game (3-0-1-0) unbeaten streak, while the victory extends South Carolina's winning streak to three.

Friday, January 13th @ Cincinnati (Kalamazoo 3-Cincinnati 1)

Cincinnati, OH- Led by solid goaltending from Maxime Clermont (6-4-0-0), who stopped 31 shots, the Kalamazoo Wings defeated the Cincinnati Cyclones 3-1 Friday night at the U.S. Bank Arena.

Breaking through on the scoreboard with their second power-play opportunity of the night, Darren Archibald slid a pass to Taylor Ellington, who was cutting in from the blue-line for his fifth-goal of the season.

Less than two minutes later, the K-Wings extended their lead, when Steven Anthony's right-point shot was deflected by Trent Daavettila (8th).

Cutting the lead in half 17:06 into the period, David Leaderer (3rd) sent a blue-line wrister through a crowd of players over the shoulder of Clermont.

No scoring in the second period kept Kalamazoo ahead 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes. Midway in the stanza, Kalamazoo capped off the game's scoring with an insurance marker from Nick Sirota (6th), who extended his scoring streak to four games.

The victory snaps the K-Wings road losing streak at three games, while extending the Cyclones losing woes to four games (0-3-0-1).

Cincinnati, who is now 12-2-0-2 at home, has suffered both or their road regulation losses to Kalamazoo.

Saturday, January 14th Vs Toledo (Toledo 5-Kalamazoo 4)

Kalamazoo, MI- In a game full of offense, the Toledo Walleye outlasted the Kalamazoo Wings 5-4 to win the 4th Annual McDonald's Golden Ice Game, presented by McDonald's and WNWN.

In the first period, it took only five shots between the two teams for them to score two goals apiece. Andrei Nestrasil got the scoring started just 1:27 into the contest with a rebound tally, his third of the season.

Just twenty-five seconds and one shot later, Toledo opened up a two goal lead. Joey Martin scored his team leading 12th of the season on a quick wrister that beat Kalamazoo goalie, Riley Gill. The goals for the Walleye were the quickest back-to-back tallies surrendered by the K-Wings this season.

Kalamazoo, however, handled the two goal deficit with relative ease. Darryl Bootland (9th) pulled the game to within one at the 6:22 mark on the K-Wings first shot of the game.

Just under two and a half minutes later, and working with their first power play of the game, the K-Wings scored on their second shot of the game, which also came off the stick of Bootland for his third power play marker of the season and his tenth overall.

Carrying momentum over into the second period, Darren Archibald (5th) put the K-Wings ahead 3-2 with a wrister 30 seconds into the period.

It only took 45 more ticks of the clock for Kalamazoo to establish a two-goal lead. John Kivisto took a shot from the point that was re-directed by Bryan Haczyk in front of the net for his 10th goal of the season.

Following the goal, Toledo pulled Rob Nolan in favor for Dustin Carlson.

Toledo wouldn't be phased by the two-goal lead for the K-Wings, as Kyle Rogers brought the game to within a goal with his tenth of the season at 3:32.

Trailing by one with eight minutes remaining in the second, Toledo would knot the game up at four apiece. Adam Escolet walked over the blue line and beat Gill with a wrist shot over his glove for the sixth goal of the season for Escolet.

Joey Ryan (2nd) put the Walleye ahead for good scoring on a slap shot midway through the period.

In a relief role, Carlson earned the victory stopping seven shots.

Sunday, January 15th @ Toledo (Kalamazoo 2-Toledo 1-Shootout)

Toledo, OH- Avenging a home loss to the Toledo Walleye the night before, the Kalamazoo Wings started a three-game road swing with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Walleye at the Huntington Center.

After a combined four goals in the opening period the night before, neither the K-Wings nor Walleye scored in the first 20 minutes on Sunday. Kalamazoo outshot Toledo 9-7 in the period, with the K-Wings generating their best scoring chances on their lone power-play.

The scoring drought continued in the second period. Both teams failed to connect on both of their power-play chances. Unlike the first period, Kalamazoo failed to gain as many shots as Toledo. The Walleye outshot the K-Wings 10-8 in the middle frame.

Darryl Bootland ended the stalemate 18 seconds into the third period with his 11th goal of the season. Bootland's goal was his sixth goal this season against the Walleye.

The K-Wings lead held until the final two minutes of regulation. With the goaltender pulled and on a power-play, Harrison Reed (5th) evened the contest with a slap shot from the slot to force overtime.

Eventually heading into a shootout, Kalamazoo out-dueled Toledo 3-2 in the extra session. The K-Wings received goals from Taylor Ellington, Dustin Cloutier and the game-winner from Nick Sirota.

Making 31 saves in regulation, Maxime Clermont (7-4-0-0) secured the victory for the K-Wings stopping five of the eight shots he faced in the shootout.

Fast Forward

Kalamazoo will continue their three-game road swing this Friday, January 20th with a 7:05 p.m. encounter against the Reading Royals. This will be the first of two meetings between the teams this season and the lone at the Sovereign Center. While January 20th will be Kalamazoo's first regular season appearance in Reading since the 2009-10 season, the K-Wings and Royals have met each of the past two seasons in the ECHL playoffs. With 36 points, Reading starts the week in third place in the Atlantic Division.

Kalamazoo will finish the week and the road swing on Saturday, January 21st with a 7 p.m. face-off at the Sun National Bank Center against the Trenton Titans. The K-Wings are 2-1-0-0 against the Titans, who start the week in fourth place in the Atlantic Division.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Wings

Goals: Justin Taylor (14 Goals)

Assists: Trent Daavettila (28 Assists)

Points: Trent Daavettila (36 Points)

+/-: Joe Sova (+10)

Penalty Minutes: Darryl Bootland (118 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Sam Ftorek, Brandon Svendsen (6 Goals)

Short Handed Goals: Trent Daavettila, Mike Matczak, Brandon Svendsen, Justin Taylor (1 Goal)

Game Winning Goals: Brandon Svendsen (5 GW)

Shots: Trent Daavettila (107 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Dean Strong (27.5%)

Overtime Goals: Sam Ftorek, Kory Karlander, Elgin Reid (1 Goal)

Shootout Goals: Taylor Ellington (2 Goals)

Shootout Percentage: Dustin Cloutier, Taylor Ellington (100%)

Goals Against Average: Riley Gill (3.09 )

Save Percentage: Riley Gill (0.897)

Good Things Come in Threes

Forward Trent Daavettila starts the week on a three-game point streak. Daavettila, who leads the K-Wings in scoring with 36 points (8 goals, 28 assists), has earned points in eight out his last nine games.

Taylor Nears Milestone Forward Justin Taylor is closing in a on a personal milestone. Taylor is two games shy of 100 in his career.

Closing in on the Century Mark

Defenseman Elgin Reid is nearing a personal milestone. Reid is two points shy of 100 in his career.

Rolling Along

Kalamazoo enters the week on a two-game road winning streak, as well as a three-game road unbeaten streak (2-0-1-0). Both streaks tie season-highs for the K-Wings.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

When leading after the first period on the road the K-Wings are nearly invincible. On the season, Kalamazoo is 6-0-1-1 when leading after the first 20 minutes of play.

Tickets! Get Your Tickets!!

Tickets for all K-Wings home games are now on sale. Catch all the action as your K-Wings play the very best the ECHL has to offer. Tickets are on sale now by calling the Wings Stadium Ticket Office at (269) 345-5101.

Get On-Line

This season, the best way to keep track of the K-Wings is to log onto the team's brand new website at www.kwings.com . The site has player profiles, video on your hometown team, and much, much more.

Gill and Reid

Join special guests Riley Gill and Elgin Reid as they join Head Coach Nick Bootland and the "Voice of the K-Wings" Mike Modugno this Monday on "K-Wings Live". The show is on The Classic Hits Station WLKM (95.9 FM) and online through www.kwings.com from 6-7 p.m. at Old Burdick's Wings West.

K-Wings on Radio

Catch all the K-Wings games, home and away, on the K-Wings Radio Network (95.9 FM WLKM & on kwings.com). Join the "Voice of the K-Wings" Mike Modugno for all 72 regular season games plus the playoffs. Pre-game coverage begins with the Kalsee Credit Union Pre-Game Show 15 minutes prior to face-off. For the most complete coverage of the K-Wings from the opening face-off to the final buzzer, keep your radio tuned this season to the K-Wings Radio Network.

Upcoming Games

Friday, January 20th @ Reading 7:05 PM

Saturday, January 21st @ Trenton 7:00 PM

Friday, January 27th Vs Cincinnati 7:30 PM (Frugal Fan Friday & Culver's Night)

Saturday, January 28th @ Wheeling 7:35 PM

Sunday, January 29th Vs Reading 4:00 PM (Family Hockey Day in the 'ZOO, Star Wars Day presented by Meijer, Pepsi, Charter Communications and the Kalamazoo Gazette)

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 16, 2012


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