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ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Win Sixth Straight, Sit One Point Back in Playoff Race

April 1, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


GREENVILLE, SC- Using multi-point performances from Sacha Guimond and Justin Taylor to help string together their sixth straight win, the Kalamazoo Wings defeated the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, 5-2, on Friday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

For the second consecutive night, the Wings raced out to an early lead. Carrying the puck ahead into the Greenville zone, Sacha Guimond handed the puck along to Alex Mallet, who snapped it towards the goal. After the initial save was made by Greenville's Alain Valiquette, Guimond was able to spin the rebound towards the net and into the top corner.

Kalamazoo added to their advantage five minutes later, hinging from artistic puck movement in the attacking zone. Cory Pritz fed the puck along to Justin Kovacs, who threaded a tape-to-tape feed to Ludwig Blomstrand, who blasted in his 28th goal of the season.

The hot hand for the Wings carried over into the second period as Justin Taylor propelled the Wings to a three-goal lead, minutes into the middle frame. Taylor carried in with Lane Scheidl on a two-on-one, faked the pass, and cashed in over the glove side of Valiquette.

As Kalamazoo continued their early dominance, Guimond extended the Kalamazoo lead to a game-high four goals, just a minute later. Guimond blasted a long shot that squeaked through Valiquette for his second goal of the night. The tally spelled the end of the night for Valiquette, who made just 12 saves on 16 shots faced and was replaced by Mackenzie Skapski.

The change of netminders turned the tides in the second period, as Greenville began flexing their muscles in an attempt to claw back into contention. While on their only power play of the game, Jack Combs set up on the doorstep and tapped home a dish from Ryan Rashid, putting the Swamp Rabbits on the board.

Five minutes later, Greenville continued to assert themselves and drew to within a pair of goals, courtesy of Joe Houk. While carrying the puck ahead into the Kalamazoo zone, Houk flung an innocent looking wrister towards the goal that crept past Martin and into the net.

After the give-and-take battle continued into the late moments of the third, the Swamp Rabbits pulled Skapski in favor of an extra attacker. Greenville couldn't come up with the same late-game magic as the night before, as Tyler Shattock delivered the dagger for the Wings in the form of an empty net tally.

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