Walleye Use Big Second Period to Beat IceMen
January 15, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Evansville IceMen News Release
TOLEDO, OH - The Evansville IceMen scored first Friday in Toledo, but the Walleye finished the game with five unanswered goals and cruised to a 5-1 win in a game that got heated late at the Huntington Center.
Playing his fourth consecutive game as a defenseman, Sebastian Strandberg put the IceMen on the board first at 11:53 of the first period. Strandberg sped past a hip check at center ice, before he flipped a shot over the shoulder of Toledo goalie Jeff Lerg from low in the left circle.
The Walleye tied the game with 3:20 left in the frame, when Toledo capitalized on a broken play behind the Evansville net and Dominic Zombo found a bouncing puck in the slot and beat IceMen goalie Christoffer Bengtsberg. The teams skated into the first intermission tied 1-1 and even 10-10 on the shot clock.
Toledo added three goals in the first 10:40 of the second period and chased Bengtsberg from the net, as Cody Reichard entered the game. Leading scorer Shane Berschbach fired a one-timer from the right circle on a power play early in the frame. Then Evan Rankin scored twice in his first game back from the AHL since October 24 to bring the Walleye lead to 4-1. Toledo outshot Evansville 16-8 in the frame.
Berschbach tallied his second goal of the game early in the third period on a wrap-around to make it 5-1 on the only shot to beat Reichard. Late in the contest with the game out of reach, tempers flared as there were multiple fights in the final minute. There were 80 combined penalty minutes, which should set up for an interesting final meeting March 19 in Toledo.
Lerg made 20 saves in his 16th win of the season, while Bengtsberg stopped 21 of 25 shots in 31:06 of play in the loss. Reichard made 13 saves in relief.
The IceMen return home Saturday for the team's sixth annual STAR WARS Night. Evansville hosts the Quad City Mallards at 7:15pm at the Ford Center and will be wearing specialty jerseys that will be auctioned off following the game. Proceeds from the jersey auction will be donated to the Travis Burkhardt Foundation.
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