ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

Kalamazoo Defeats Toledo on Celebration! Cinema Night

Published on April 2, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Kalamazoo, MI- The Kalamazoo Wings moved closer to securing the North Division title defeating the Toledo Walleye 6-2 on Celebration! Cinema Night. The victory places the K-Wings within a one of securing the division title and keeps them one point behind the Charlotte Checkers for the overall lead in the American Conference.

After suffering through slow starts in back-to-back games, Kalamazoo turned the tide by striking twice on their first three shots in the opening four minutes on Friday's contest.

Netting his team-leading 70th point on his team-leading 32nd goal, Rick Cleaver put in a rebound 2:07 into the contest to give the K-Wings an early jump-start.

Two minutes later while on a power-play, Patrick Asselin (11th) found a loose puck in front of the crease and slid it past Jordan Pearce to extend the K-Wings lead to 2-0.

Asselin (12th) kept his scoring touch alive in the second period, recording his second goal of the night and third point (2 goals, 1 assist) overall. Off the draw, Mathieu Curadeau sent the puck to Asselin, who snipped it past Pearce.

With the assist, Curadeau lengthen his point streak to five straight games.

Toledo tried to fight back early in the third period with a goal from Evan Rankin (32nd) to bring the Walleye back to within two goals.

The K-Wings reeled in the Walleye later in the period by ringing up three unanswered goals. Falling off to the ice while he was shooting, Dean Strong (16th) continued his dominance at Wings Stadium by extending his home point streak to an incredible 15 games. Strong's off-balance shot bounce off a defender and into the net.

Darryl Lloyd (19th, 20th) poured salt into the Walleye's wound by tacking on two straight goals midway in the stanza.

The Walleye closed out the scoring with a tally from Akim Aliu (5th).

After allowing 10 goals in his last five periods of hockey, Ryan Nie was stingy allowing two goals on 28 shots to preserve his league-leading 27th win of the season.

For Game Stats: http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/official-game-report.php?game_id=7878.

The K-Wings will conclude their home stand tomorrow, Saturday, April 3rd with a 7:30 p.m. face-off versus Walleye on Fan Appreciation Night.

Following the game, the K-Wings will announce their 2009-10 team awards and hold the McDonald's warm-up jersey auction.

Single-game tickets for any of the K-Wings 36 regular season home games are currently on sale at the Wings Stadium Ticket Office. Ticket Office hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, call Wings Stadium Ticket Office during regular business hours at (269) 345-5101.

For more information about tonight's game, please contact director of public relations/broadcaster Mike Modugno at (269) 349-9772 extension 220.

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from April 2, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central