K-Wings Battle Walleye into OT, Earn Point in Front of Sellout Crowd
November 4, 2022 – ECHL (ECHL) – Kalamazoo Wings News Release
KALAMAZOO, MI – The Kalamazoo Wings (2-2-1-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets, went to battle with the Toledo Walleye (3-1-0-0) in a hard-fought 4-3 overtime defeat in front of a sellout crowd for ‘Military Appreciation Night’ at Wings Event Center on Friday.
In a game of responses, the K-Wings were able to answer each of Toledo’s goals in the first two frames to head to the third period tied at two.
First, Chad Nychuk (1) scored his first professional goal at the 14:16 mark to wipe out an early Walleye lead. Nychuck moved the puck from the blue line into the slot and picked the top-left corner to beat Toledo goaltender Sebastian Cossa. Carson Focht (1) earned the assist in his first game with the K-Wings after being assigned from Abbotsford by the Vancouver Canucks.
Then in the second, Kalamazoo fell behind early but an elbow from Toledo’s Cole Fraser connected with Mason McCarty’s head, earning Fraser a five-minute major for elbowing and a game misconduct.
McCarty (3) then proceeded to score the equalizer on the power play at the 11:34 mark, deflecting in a Nychuk (3) shot from the blue line to knot the score at two. Olivier LeBlanc (2) earned the second assist on the goal.
It took just 12 seconds for Matheson Iacopelli (4) to find the back of the net to start the third, as he muscled the period’s opening faceoff win straight to the scoresheet on a filthy backhand to give the K-Wings their first lead of the game. Justin Taylor (1) notched his first point of the season with the assist.
The helper moves Taylor into sole possession of the No. 6 spot in K-Wings history for career assists (221), breaking a tie with Mitch Messier. The K-Wings alternate captain is now just five assists away from catching Doug Derkson (226) in fifth place all-time.
Toledo then tied the game up 3:46 seconds later and was able to score the game-winning goal two minutes into the overtime frame.
Evan Cormier (2-0-1-0) made 24 saves in the game, and Kalamazoo’s penalty kill unit posted a perfect 4-4 performance.
Kalamazoo now hits the road to face the Indy Fuel (4-1-0-0) in its first road game of the season on Saturday. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
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