ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

Published on April 23, 2012 under ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Game Rewind

Wednesday, April 18th @ South Carolina (Kalamazoo 3-South Carolina 0) Game 3 Eastern Conf. Semi-Finals

North Charleston, SC- Brilliant goaltending from Riley Gill, stingy defense and timely scoring led the Kalamazoo Wings to a 3-0 victory Wednesday night against the South Carolina Stingrays and helped the K-Wings take a three games to none strangle hold in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

Scoring on two of their first four shots of the night, the K-Wings set the tone in game three. Nick Sirota extended his point streak to seven games and his goal streak to three games 2:44 into the game on a rebound marker. Kory Karlander, who assisted on the tally, pushed his point streak to five games.

Just 51 seconds later, Justin Taylor notched his second post-season tally with a wrister from the high slot.

Pushing the lead to 3-0, Kalamazoo closed out the scoring with a goal from Trent Daavettila (2nd), who found the loose puck to the left of and sent it into an unprotected net 14:53 into the stanza.

South Carolina outshot Kalamazoo 30-23 for the game, including 6-1 in the third period.

The shutout was Gill's first postseason shutout in his career and the K-Wings second since joining the ECHL. Kalamazoo's last postseason shutout was back on May 8, 2011, a 4-0 decision against the Wheeling Nailers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Gill raised his record to 6-1 in the playoffs, while Madore, who made 20 saves in the contest, dropped his recorded to 2-3 in the postseason.

Friday, April 21st @ South Carolina (Kalamazoo 1-South Carolina 4) Game 4 Eastern Conf. Semi-Finals

North Charleston, SC- Fighting for their season, the South Carolina Stingrays forced a game five with a 4-1 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings in game four of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Despite the loss, the K-Wings lead the series three games to one.

South Carolina struck first in game four with a Chris Higgins pass was redirected off the tape of Michael Dorr (2nd) and past Riley Gill 2:52 into the first period.

Scoring in similar fashion midway in the stanza, Brett Flemming found Andrew Cherniwchan on the backdoor for Cherniwchan's second tally of the postseason.

A penalty-filled second period led to a combined four power-play chances, but no scoring for either team.

The Stingrays put the game out of reach 7:47 into the third period with a tally from Chris Higgins (3rd), who would finish the night with three points (1 goal, 2 assists).

Nick Sirota (7th) earned the K-Wings lone-goal of the game with a power-play marker at the 13:49 mark of the period, which extended his goal streak to four games and upped his point streak to eight.

With Gill pulled for an extra-man, Billy Ryan (2nd) closed out the scoring with an empty-netter.

Making 17 saves, Gill dropped his playoff record to 6-2, while Daren Machesney, who returned from the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears earlier in the afternoon, stopped 32 shots to raise his playoff record to 2-1.

Saturday, April 14th Vs South Carolina (Kalamazoo 4-South Carolina 1) Game 1 Eastern Conf. Semi-Finals

North Charleston, SC- Led by a stifling 4-for-5 power-play performance, the Kalamazoo Wings defeated the South Carolina Stingrays 5-1 in game five of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and will advance to the conference finals after knocking out the Stingrays four games to one.

Special teams led to both team's first goals in the first period. Stopping a shorthanded odd-man rush by Kalamazoo, South Carolina created an odd-man rush of their own, as Patrick Cullen raced up ice and laid a centering pass to the tape of Brett Flemming (2nd) 10:13 into the period.

The K-Wings pulled even late in the period with a power-play strike from Trent Daavettila (3rd). Needing just eight seconds of the man-advantage to tie the game at 1-1, Daavettila pushed a Darryl Bootland rebound over the goal line.

Kalamazoo's power-play continued to dominate in the second period with a pair of goals from Sam Ftorek (2nd, 3rd). Ftorek notched the eventual game-winner 1:07 into the middle frame with a blue line blast.

Later in the period, Ftorek put the K-Wings up by two goals, by stepping into a slap shot from a top of the right circle. Dwight Helminen capped off a game-high three-point performance, all on assists, with a helper on the goal.

Putting the game out of reach in the third period, Justin Taylor (3rd) knocked in a loose puck for the fourth power-play strike of the night for the K-Wings.

Darryl Bootland (3rd) capped off the scoring by finishing off a three-on-two odd man rush with a right circle slap shot at the 15:57 mark into the period.

Riley Gill (7-2) helped the K-Wings advance into the conference finals by stopping 31 shots, while Daren Machesney (2-2) turned aside 27 shots in defeat.

Nick Sirota's eight-game point streak came to end, after the forward was held off the score sheet for the first time in the postseason.

Fast Forward

The K-Wings will continue the Kelly Cup Playoffs this Friday, April 27th with a 7:30 p.m. face-off versus the Florida Everblades in game one of the Best-of-Seven Eastern Conference Finals.

Game two of the series will be on Saturday, April 28th with a 7:30 p.m. face-off at Wings Stadium. During the regular season, the K-Wings were 2-2-0-1 against the Stingrays. This series will be the second playoff encounter between the teams. Last year, Kalamazoo defeated Florida in four games during Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Playoff Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Wings

Goals: Nick Sirota (7 Goals)

Assists: Trent Daavettila (8 Assists)

Points: Trent Daavettila, Nick Sirota (11 Points)

+/-: Dustin Cloutier (+6)

Penalty Minutes: Darren Archibald (15 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Sam Ftorek (3 Goals)

Short Handed Goals: Entire Team (0 Goals)

Game Winning Goals: Dwight Helminen (3 GW)

Shots: Dwight Helminen (27 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Nick Sirota (25%)

Overtime Goals: Entire Team (0 Goals)

Goals Against Average: Riley Gill (1.90 )

Save Percentage: Riley Gill (0.938)

Doing it with Defense

Through eight postseason games, while the K-Wings have been scoring, it has been their stingy defense that has put them in the conference finals. In their eight playoff games, Kalamazoo has held their opposition to one or fewer goals in half of those contests and two or fewer in six of their eight games.

Home Sweet Home

Kalamazoo will be the Eastern Conference Finals with two games at Wings Stadium this weekend. Dating back to the regular season, the K-Wings have won five straight games at home, including four in a row in the playoffs.

Power Surge

In game five of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, the K-Wings went 4-for-5 on the power-play. Kalamazoo, who is tied for eighth in home power-play percentage 18.2%, ranks first in road power-play percentage at 44.4% and first overall in the league at 34.5%.

Strike Force

Kalamazoo enters the Eastern Conference Finals has the most prolific scoring team in the ECHL postseason. The K-Wings lead the league with an average of 3.67 goals-a-game, just ahead of the Florida Everblades, who are second at 3.38 goals-a-game.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

Kalamazoo has outscored their opponents 12-7 in the first period of the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The 12 goals in the opening period are the most of any team in the ECHL.

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.

Bootland and Strong

Join special guests Darryl Bootland and Dean Strong 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, April 27th Vs Florida 7:30 PM (Eastern Conference Finals, Game One)

Saturday, April 28th Vs Florida 7:30 PM (Eastern Conference Finals, Game Two)

Wednesday, May 2nd @ Florida 7:30 PM (Eastern Conference Finals, Game Three)

Thursday, May 3rd @ Florida 7:30 PM (Eastern Conference Finals, Game Four)

*Saturday, May 5th @ Florida 7:00 PM (Eastern Conference Finals, Game Five)

*Tuesday, May 8th Vs Florida 7:00 PM (Eastern Conference Finals, Game Six)

*Wednesday, May 9th Vs Florida 7:00 PM (Eastern Conference Finals, Game Seven)

(* Denotes Games that Will Only Be Played If Necessary)

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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ECHL Stories from April 23, 2012


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