ECHL Toledo Walleye

Toledo Defeats Dayton 5-4 in Shootout as Power Plays Heat Up

Published on November 24, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Toledo Walleye News Release


(Toledo, Ohio) The Toledo Storm (9-5-0) and Dayton Bombers (5-4-1) were both towards the basement of the ECHL in power play percentage. Yet, on Friday night, 6 of the 9 goals scored came on a man advantage with Toledo prevailing in a shootout by a 5-4 final score in front of 5,265 at Toledo Sports Arena.

The Storm drew first blood at the 12:08 mark, when Toledo's struggling power play cashed in against Bombers netminder Dan LaCosta. Andrew Martin recorded that goal, his sixth of the season, with assists going to Jon Sitko at Jamie Tardif. With the helper, Tardif extends his point-scoring streak to five games.

Dayton tied the game, though, just four minutes later when Matt Herneisen backhanded a shot past Logan Koopmans with 16:46 gone; Corey Leclair and Paul Kelly added the assists. Toledo's power play struck again to regain the lead with just under a minute remaining in the 1st period. Gerry Burke blasted a shot past LaCosta for his first goal of the season, Tardif picked up another assist on the goal, as did Matt Zultek.

In the second period, both teams used power plays to their advantage. The Storm regained a 2-goal cushion just ten seconds into the middle frame when Dan Watson slapped one past LaCosta for his first of the year, Chris Blight picked up the lone assist. Blight added to his point totals again at the 9:04 mark when his shot eluded the Dayton goaltender, giving the Storm a commanding 4-1 lead. However, Toledo penalties began to stack up towards the end of the period, and the Bombers capitalized. Scott Ford pulled his team within two, by scoring his second goal of the year with Greg Labenski adding the assist at the 14:19 mark. Just 2 minutes later, Dayton made it 4-3 when Tim Konsorada deposited a rebound into a wide-open net; Labenski notched his second assist of the game with Jekabs Redlihs also recording a helper.

The Storm controlled the play for most of the third period, but a late scramble in front of the Toledo net allowed Yannick Tifu to stash one behind Koopmans, tying the game with just 5:39 remaining and forced an overtime period. After a scoreless overtime frame, the teams went to a shootout. In the shootout, Koopmans was solid, stopping all five Bombers shooters while his counterpart LeCosta stopped 3 of 4. The one he missed was the game winner off the stick of Nick Parillo, his third of the season, to give the Storm the extra point in the 5-4 Storm victory.

After a week of practice, the Storm will travel out east for three games in three nights beginning against a pair of North Division rivals. On Friday, Toledo will battle the Reading Royals then travel to Trenton to take on the Titans for Saturday and Sunday games at Sovereign Bank Arena. The Storm will return to Toledo Sports Arena on December 9th, when they will welcome in the Wheeling Nailers at 7:35pm. Great tickets for the game are still available by calling 419-691-0200 or online at www.toledostorm.com. Fans can listen to every Toledo Storm Hockey game on 1520 AM Jams or watch the game LIVE online via the B2 Network. Toledo Storm Hockey...Great Team...Great Time!

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ECHL Stories from November 24, 2006


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