Sports stats



ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

Kalamazoo Earns Playoff Berth with 4-2 Victory against Wheeling

March 20, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Wheeling, WV- The Kalamazoo Wings are heading back to the Kelly Cup playoffs, as the K-Wings earned a berth on Sunday with a 4-2 victory over the Wheeling Nailers.

Striking early, Brandon DeFazio (2nd) deflected a Tim Crowder slap shot 4:35 into the contest to give the Nailers a 1-0 lead.

Kalamazoo answered back five minutes later, when Trent Daavettila laid a drop pass to blade of Andrew Fournier, who rifled home his team-best 36th goal of the season. The goal gave Fournier 11 points on the season against the Nailers, including seven goals, the most of any member of the K-Wings. With the assist, Daavettila extended road point streak to a league current-high of nine games.

Just like they did in the opening period, Wheeling wasted no time to light the lamp to start the second. Earning his second goal in as many games since commencing his pro career, Chris Kushneriuk (2nd) knocked in his own rebound to regain a one-goal for the Nailers 3:35 into the stanza.

Evening the score at 2-2 just over a minute later, Brady Leisenring (7th) recorded the equalizer off of a Kory Karlander rebound on the K-Wings first power-play attempt of the afternoon.

Kalamazoo grabbed their first lead of the night midway in the third period with a wrist shot from Bryan Jurynec (3rd). With the puck behind the Nailers, net, Aaron Clarke sent a pass to the slot to Jurynec, who recorded his first game-winner of the season.

Adding insurance late in the game, Daavettila capped off a two point night with an empty-net tally with 26 seconds remaining to secure the victory.

The victory extended the K-Wings road winning streak to three games and road unbeaten streak to nine games (7-0-0-2). Both streaks are season-highs for Kalamazoo.

The K-Wings will return home this Wednesday, March 23rd for a special 10:30 a.m. face-off versus the Cincinnati Cyclones during the first of two Education Day Games presented by RxOptical, Bounceland, Edison Electric and Putter's Family Fun Center.

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 and the Discover Kalamazoo Post-Game Show, keep your radio tuned this season to the K-Wings Radio Network.

Single game tickets for the 2010-2011 season are on sale at the Wings Stadium Ticket Office, Ticketmaster Outlets, including www.ticketmaster.com, Ticket Office hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, please call Wings Stadium Ticket Office during regular business hours at (269) 345-5101.

Tickets for all K-Wings home games are on sale now and range in price from $9.90-$14.90 for adults and only $6.90 for kids ages 12 and under. The ticket prices for all K-Wings premium night games (all colored ice games and New Year's Eve game) are just $1 more.

Fans can save money by purchasing K-Wings single game tickets advance because on the day of a game, K-Wings tickets are $1 more.

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from March 20, 2011


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