IHL 2 Kalamazoo Wings

Luke used the force

Published on March 1, 2009 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Muskegon, MI - With both teams trying to move up in the standings, it was the Muskegon Lumberjacks that accomplished their goal, defeating the Kalamazoo Wings 5-3 and in the process moving into a first place in the International Hockey League standings with the Port Huron Icehawks.

Timely bounces helped the Lumberjacks in the opening period. A deflected pass from Shea Hamilton to Ryan Jorde two and half minutes into the period led to a two-on-one for Muskegon. Jorde finished the odd-man rush by delivering a perfect pass to Todd Robinson, who flung the puck past goaltender Joel Martin for his 23rd goal and league-leading 95th overall point of the season.

Midway in the period, an innocent neutral zone dump-in by Martin Ondej seemed to tie the game at 1-1. Muskegon's Clayton Pool tried to cover up the puck in front of his goal, but fell into his own net; however the referee's whistle sounded before the puck crossed the goal line, which negated the goal.

Later in the period, Billy Collins sent a pass off the glass along the right side wall that ricocheted straight to the K-Wings the net. Muskegon's Luke Staffacher (27th) swatted the puck up into the air and off the cross bar and back into the air. Receiving a favorable bounce, the puck hit the ice and landed over the goal line to extend Muskegon's lead to 2-0.

Regrouping in the second stanza, Kalamazoo exploded for two unanswered. Rick Cleaver registered the K-Wings first tally of the night on the power-play 35 second into the period. The goal was Cleaver's IHL rookie-leading 22nd of the season.

Fighting back to even, Blair Manning sent a saucer pass right to the blade of Justin Cross (6th), who used a deke on his breakaway opportunity to freeze Pool and scored on a backhander.

With the momentum with Kalamazoo, Muskegon quickly swung the pendulum back to their side. John DiPace regained the lead for the ‘Jacks scoring his 29th goal of the season 12 seconds after Cross tied the contest. DiPace's tally tied him with Robin Bouchard for Lumberjack team-lead in goals.

Pushing their lead by to two goals, Stauffacher (28th) recorded his second tally of the night on a power-play blast to give Muskegon a 4-2 advantage.

Looking to comeback from a two-goal deficit for the second-time in the contest, Blair Stayzer (3rd) scored on a backhander in the third period to bring the K-Wings back to within a goal.

However, Stauffacher (29th) wrapped up the scoring in the contest earning a hat trick with an empty-netter marker 35 seconds remaining in the game to secure the victory.

For Game Stats: http://pointstreak.com/prostats/gamesheet_full.html?gameid=735276

The K-Wings will return home to Wings Stadium to commence a three-game home stand this Wednesday, March 4th for a special 10:30 a.m. face-off versus the Port Huron Icehawks on Education Day.

Single-game tickets for any of the K-Wings 38 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.

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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



International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 1, 2009


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