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ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

Late Game Heroics Lead to Shootout Win for K-Wings

November 19, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


TOLEDO, OH - The Kalamazoo Wings used some late-game heroics from Cory Pritz and a 29 save effort from Joel Martin, as they skated to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Toledo Walleye on Thursday morning at the Huntington Center in Toledo.

The Walleye were able to spring out to a lead as they capitalized on an odd-man rush late in period number one. Josh Shalla carried toward the Kalamazoo goal and had his initial try saved by Joel Martin. However, Shane Berschbach was right behind the play to deposit the rebound into the goal for his fifth goal of the season, giving Toledo a 1-0 lead.

Two minutes later, Toledo would build a two-goal advantage, as Dominic Zombo was on the receiving end of a Tyler Sikura pass right in front of the goal that led to Zombo's first professional tally, and a 2-0 Walleye lead.

With under a minute to play in the opening frame, Kalamazoo would slice Toledo's lead in half. After corralling a puck along the wall, Brett Ponich steered a wrist shot towards the goal that was deflected in by Dane Fox, who was acting as a screen in front of Toledo netminder Jake Patterson. The goal from Fox was his sixth of the season, good enough to tie for first on the team.

The second frame featured bursts from both teams, but was a scoreless twenty minutes. Toledo had three man-advantage opportunities during the period, but Kalamazoo's penalty kill stood strong and killed off each chance.

With time winding down and Martin on the bench for the extra attacker, Kalamazoo maintained possession in the Toledo end and were rewarded when Pritz stepped into a one timer at the top of the right circle that found the back of the goal to tie the game at 2-2 with 1:03 remaining.

The three-on-three overtime yielded no winner, so the game went to a shootout, Kalamazoo's first of the year.

Kalamazoo were paced in the shootout by goals from Justin Taylor, Alex Mallet, and the eventual winner from David Gilbert in round five.

Notes: It was the first shootout contest for Kalamazoo this season. Gilbert and Ben Wilson both returned to the lineup for Kalamazoo after missing extended time with injuries. It was a 10:30 a.m. puck drop for education day at the Huntington Center in Toledo. Fox tied a season high for a Kalamazoo player in shots on goal with seven.

Stats: http://echl.com/stats/official-game-report.php?game_id=12821

The Kalamazoo Wings head to Fort Wayne to take on the Komets on Friday, November 20, at 8:00 p.m. inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. All of the action can be heard on AM 1660 The Fan.

Single-game tickets are now on sale! Tickets can be purchased at kwings.com or at the Wings Event Center box office. Box office hours are Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. A $2 discount is applied on all tickets purchased before the date of the game.

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ECHL Stories from November 19, 2015


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