ECHL Toledo Walleye

Walleye Win Big, 5-3

Published on March 5, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Toledo Walleye News Release


Toledo, OH - The Walleye hosted Trenton in what would be the beginning of a huge weekend series on Friday night. With games each day over the weekend, Toledo could climb up the standings and improve on their current seventh place playoff seed.

Toledo came in undefeated against the Devils, winning the previous three contests. However, Trenton broke the tie on the pink ice first. Tim Kunes took a shot at the blue line into traffic. Walleye goalie Alec Richards was screened by Dan Eves, who was able to tip it past Richards for the first goal at 13:31.

That goal would stand through the rest of the period and the second, but the Walleye still had scoring chances. Anthony Perdicaro and Scooter Smith both had chances in front of the net, but either missed or were stoned by Devils' netminder Dave Caruso to keep the game 1-0 going into the third.

"We had a few good chances," Head Coach Nick Vitucci said, "but Caruso made some plays to keep us scoreless. We just knew we needed to keep the pressure on them."

The third period featured a barrage of scoring, including a pair by the Walleye to take the lead about two minutes apart. Toledo screened Caruso as Jonathon Carlsson took a pass at the center of the blue line. He ripped a slap-shot that went through the blinded goalie to tie it 1-1 at 1:48. It was his third of the season. Then at 3:09, JC Sawyer worked another Walleye screen to his advantage, ripping a slap-shot of his own through traffic and beat Caruso to break the tie.

Trenton tied the game minutes later, but Toledo continued to pound the net. Sal Peralta led an odd-man rush and fed it to Maxime Tanguay as he took it behind the net. Tanguay threw the one-timer over Caruso to once again break the tie as the sell-out home crowd roared.

"It was nice to show the home fans what we could do on offense," Vitucci said. "We took advantage of our opportunities."

Toledo continued to pour it on as Sawyer again blasted a slap-shot to stretch the lead to 4-2, his second of the game and 21st of the year. Trenton threatened with a goal to make it 4-3, but Sawyer's fellow All-Star Maxime Tanguay added his second of the night and beautiful one timer. Scooter Smith set up to the left as Tanguay crashed, who got the puck at the crease to beat a diving Caruso to make it 5-3, the final score.

Season Stories

Pink Ice Tribute: The ice at LCA was dyed pink in honor of breast cancer victims and survivors. The team wore special pink jerseys that were auctioned off for the cause.

Inside the Pink Ice: Unfortunately for the Fish, Toledo had been outscored 15-0 in pink rinks so far this year. Jonathon Carlsson scored the first ever Toledo Walleye goal on pink ice.

Following the Fish: After the sellout 7,461 on hand at Friday's game, Toledo has welcomed 190,051 fans through the turnstyles at Lucas County Arena this season and is currently first in overall attendance. This season, the Walleye have seen more fans than any other professional franchise in Toledo hockey history. The record was previously set by the 1977-78 Toledo Goaldiggers.

Speaking of History...: This weekend's game-day festivities includes honoring former Toledo hockey greats and championship banner ceremonies before each game on Saturday and Sunday. Lucas County Arena will officially be decorated with Toledo rich hockey history.

Check out the Toledo Walleye Statistics

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ECHL Stories from March 5, 2010


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