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Kalamazoo Completes Comeback to Defeat Springfield 6-5 in OT

February 9, 2013 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings News Release


Kalamazoo, MI - With just 27 seconds remaining in Saturday's contest between the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings and the Springfield Jr. Blues, Kalamazoo found themselves shorthanded, and trailing by two goals. A few extra attacker, miraculous goals later, including one with just one second on the clock, Kalamazoo was able to send the game into overtime. In overtime, Kalamazoo prevailed, and defeated Springfield by the score of 6-5.

The first period was tightly contested. Neither team was able to capitalize on their power play chance, but each club was able to get on the board, and they both relied on their leading scorers for those goals. First, at 15:30, Robbie Payne (22nd) put the Jr. K-Wings on the board. Payne took the Kyle Gattelaro pass at the bottom of right circle, and flung the puck into the back of the Jr. Blues' net.

Next, at the 18:47 mark, Springfield evened the score. Brett Skibba (22nd) went streaking down the left side of the ice, made a spectacular move, and was able to put the puck in between the Alex Okicki's pads for the score. This tied the game up at one as each team went to the locker room for the first intermission.

It didn't take long for the Jr. K-Wings to break the tie. Just 13 seconds into the second period, Christian George (5th) put in the rebound opportunity to give the Jr. K-Wings a one goal lead. George's goal was assisted by Brennan Sanford and Danny Hamburg.

Springfield was able to respond, however. They again relied on their leading scorer to tie the game back up, as Skibba put home his second goal of the game and 23rd of the year when he found himself past all Kalamazoo defenders and one on one with Okicki.

Again, the Jr. Blues would not be able to keep this game tied for long. This time, it was their former captain who put them behind. Mike Fazio, only playing his second game for the Jr. K-Wings, scored his first goal as member of the team, and it came against the squad that traded him away a little more than a week ago.

After a bit of a scuffle to end the second period, Springfield started the third on a power play. They were able to score to even the game up on the Parker Johnson (5th) goal.

The game would remain tied until the 9:04 mark of the third, when the Jr. Blues would finally break through and take the lead. Ryan Atkinson (15th) was able to put his team on top after a beautiful pass from Skibba. That was Skibba's third point of the contest.

It would, however, not be his last. With 4:07 remaining in the game, Skibba (24th) gave Springfield the seemingly insurmountable two goal lead.

It look even more unlikely that the Jr. K-Wings would be able to come back when, at the 2:14 mark, they found themselves shorthanded. They were able to cut the deficit to only one goal with 27 seconds as Taylor Burden (16th) was able to score. Payne and Gattelaro recorded the assists on Burden's goal; it was the second point of the day for each of them.

Gattelaro would not be done, though, as he was able to score the game-tying goal (8th) with one second showing on the clock to force a very unlikely overtime. Kalamazoo was playing six on five, as their penalty had expired with 14 seconds left.

Overtime started slowly, with both teams trying to comprehend the insanity that had just taken place. However, at the 3:05 mark, the Jr. K-Wings would complete their remarkable comeback against the Jr. Blues. Hamburg (14th) was able to collect the Mac McDonnell rebound and score the game winning goal.

Kalamazoo's unlikely victory on Saturday propelled them to a record of 5-0 against Springfield this season. It also puts them only two points behind Soo, the NAHL North Division leader.

The Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings and the Springfield Jr. Blues will meet again tomorrow, February 9th, to complete their weekend series.



North American Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2013


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