ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

Published on February 6, 2012 under ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Game Rewind

Wednesday, February 1st Vs South Carolina (South Carolina 4-Kalamazoo 3-Shootout)

Kalamazoo, MI- Fighting back from two-goal deficit in the second period, the South Carolina Stingrays came back to defeat the Kalamazoo Wings 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday night at Wings Stadium.

Off to a quick start, David de Kastrozza (12th) gave the Stingrays an early lead, just 1:54 into the first period. de Kastrozza followed up his own rebound off a long wrister from the top of the circle and found the back of the net, beating K-Wings starting goalie, Riley Gill.

Led by an aggressive power-play the K-Wings pulled even 5:03 into the second period on a tally from Justin Taylor (17th).

While not a man-advantage tally, just one second following a Johann Kroll infraction, Elgin Reid gave Kalamazoo a 2-1 lead by registering his third goal of the season.

Taylor earned a K-Wings' single game season-high second power-play tally 12:34 into the stanza by jamming in a Darryl Bootland rebound. The two-goal performance by Taylor was his third multi-goal game of the season and the 21st by a member of the K-Wings.

South Carolina ended Kalamazoo's scoring run later in the period when Greg Stewart (7th) tipped in a Mike Hamilton cross-rink pass.

Trailing 3-2 in the third period, South Carolina pulled back even with a power-play marker from Johann Kroll (5th), which forced overtime.

After no scoring in the five-minute overtime, the game went into a shootout, where the Stingrays outscored the K-Wings 3-2 to capture the one goal victory.

Friday, February 3rd Vs Toledo (Toledo 5-Kalamazoo 4)

Kalamazoo, MI- The Toledo Walleye took the first half of a home-and-home series over the Kalamazoo Wings defeating the K-Wings 4-3 Friday Night on PNC Night at Wings Stadium.

Trying to kill a penalty, the Walleye jumped ahead when Todd Griffith (7th) registered a shorthanded tally on a breakaway 2:20 into the contest.

Storming back five minutes later, Darryl Bootland pulled the K-Wings even with his 15th goal of the season.

Playing in his first game since January 13th, a span of eight games, Sam Ftorek (9th) gave Kalamazoo their first lead of the night, 25 seconds later, on a slap shot that grazed off the glove of Toledo goaltender Dustin Carlson.

Special teams not only led to the Walleye's first goal, it helped with their second. Mike Thomas earned his first goal of the season late in the first period scoring the equalizer on Toledo's first power-play of the night.

The league's top power-play unit regained the lead for Kalamazoo 46 seconds into the second period, when Bootland (16th) deflected a Trent Daavettila slap shot for his second goal of the night. With the marker, Bootland has scored eight of his 16 goals against the Walleye.

Staying resilient, David Gilbert (3rd) evened the game for Toledo at 3-3 scoring the equalizer after Kyle Page's wrist shot bounced off the glass and over the net to Gilbert's stick.

Gilbert placed the Walleye ahead in the third period, striking for his second goal of the night 3:47 into the stanza.

Capping off a four-point (1 goal, 3 assist) performance, Paul Zanette (4th) on an odd-man rush roofed a wrister over Maxime Clermont midway in the period.

Trying to mount a comeback, Ftorek (10th) notched his second tally of the night on a power-play.

Kalamazoo finished the night 2-for-3 on the power-play, while Toledo went 1-for-6.

Saturday, February 4th @ Toledo (Kalamazoo 4-Toledo 0)

Toledo, OH- Riley Gill made 33 saves to pave the way for the Kalamazoo Wings to earn their first shutout of the 2011-12 season, as the K-Wings started a four-game road swing with a 4-0 victory over the Toledo Walleye Saturday night at the Huntington Center.

After a scoreless opening period, the K-Wings took control of the contest in the second period striking for three goals.

On their first power-play of the night, Trent Daavettila notched his ninth goal of the season, when a Sam Ftorek slap shot caromed off the end wall onto the forwards stick 7:56 into the period. The goal from Daavettila extended his point streak to four games.

Less than two minutes later, Kalamazoo pushed their lead to 2-0, when Darryl Bootland led a pass to Elgin Reid (4th) for a breakaway marker. The assist lengthened Bootland's point streak to five games.

Bootland's (17th) dominance of the Walleye continued midway in the stanza, as the forward stole the puck in the Toledo zone and scored shorthanded. With nine goals against Toledo, Bootland has earned over half of his overall season goal (17) total against Toledo. Overall, the forward has registered 11 out his 31 total points versus the Walleye.

Adding salt in the Walleye's wounds, Justin Taylor found a loose puck to the side of Toledo's net and chipped in his team-leading 20th goal of the season with 52 seconds remaining in the contest.

The shutout by Gill was his fourth of his professional career and his third in a K-Wings jersey. Gill was also between the pipes the K-Wings earned their last shutout back on April 1, 2011 against the Cincinnati Cyclones.

Fast Forward

The K-Wings will continue their four-game road swing with the second-leg of the trip this Thursday, February 9th with a 7:35 p.m. face-off against the Greenville Road Warriors at the BI-LO Center.

Kalamazoo and Greenville will meet again two nights later on Saturday, February 11th with a 7:35 p.m. encounter. On the season, the K-Wings are 1-1-0-0 against the Road Warriors, who start the week in third place in the South Division.

Concluding the week and the road trip on Sunday, February 12th, the K-Wings will make their first trip to Gwinnett, Georgia in two years, when they take on the Gladiators at 4:05 p.m. Sunday's contest will be the first of two meetings this season between the teams. The Gladiators are not only in first place in the South Division, but with 60 points, they currently sit in first place in the entire Eastern Conference.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Wings

Goals: Justin Taylor (20 Goals)

Assists: Trent Daavettila (35 Assists)

Points: Trent Daavettila (44 Points)

+/-: Sam Ftorek, John Kivisto (+9)

Penalty Minutes: Darryl Bootland (123 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Sam Ftorek (7 Goals)

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

Game Winning Goals: Brandon Svendsen (5 GW)

Shots: Trent Daavettila (132 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Dean Strong (27.5%)

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

Shootout Goals: Taylor Ellington (3 Goals)

Shootout Percentage: Taylor Ellington (100%)

Goals Against Average: Riley Gill (2.85 )

Save Percentage: Riley Gill (0.905)

Heating Up

Two members of the K-Wings enter the week on impressive point streaks. Forward Darryl Bootland is riding a five-game point streak, while Trent Daavettila has earned at least one point in each of his last four games.

Road Tested

Kalamazoo is riding a season-high three-game road winning streak. Since the start of 2012, the K-Wings are 5-1-0-0 on the road.

Heading South

Kalamazoo's next three games will be against the South Division. On the season, the K-Wings are 4-3-0-1 against teams from the South.

Striking First

When Kalamazoo's scores first they usually are victorious. On the season, the K-Wings are 17-6-1-1 when they score the game's first goal.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

Last Saturday's shutout for the K-Wings was their first of the season. Kalamazoo's last shutout was back on April 1, 2011 against the Cincinnati Cyclones.

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 www.kwings.com . The site has player profiles, information about Wings Stadium events, and much, much more.

Charlebois and Ellington

Join special guests Joe Charlebois and Taylor Ellington 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

Thursday, February 9th @ Greenville 7:35 PM

Saturday, February 11th @ Greenville 7:05 PM

Sunday, February 12th @ Gwinnett 4:05 PM

Tuesday, February 14th Vs Cincinnati 7:00 PM (12th Annual Pink Ice Game, Presented by WKFR and WWMT)

Friday, February 17th @ Cincinnati 7:35 PM

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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ECHL Stories from February 6, 2012


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