WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
There no was no love lost, but plenty of action, as the Kalamazoo Wings defeated the Cincinnati Cyclones 4-3 during the 12th Annual Pink Ice Game, presented by WWMT and WKFR.
Off to a blistering start, Eric Kattelus (5th) scored on a left-circle slap shot seven seconds into the game to give the K-Wings the early advantage. The goal was not only the quickest to commence a game for Kalamazoo, beating the previous best 32 seconds also against Cincinnati back on December 27th at the U.S. Bank Arena, but it was the second quickest in the organization’s history and their fastest since joining the ECHL.
Mike Berger is the only member of the K-Wings to start a game with a goal faster, scoring 5 seconds into a contest on January 27, 1989, when Kalamazoo was a member of the International Hockey League.
Calming down after surrendering the early tally, Cincinnati bounced back with two unanswered goals starting with an equalizer from Joe Devin (4th) 10:42 into the period.
Taking advantage of a K-Wings turnover, Robert Slaney (11th) gave the Cyclones the lead a few minutes later whacking in a third chance opportunity past Riley Gill.
Kalamazoo pulled even midway through the quick-moving second period with the 11th tally of the season from Darren Archibald.
Just one minute and thirteen seconds later, Kalamazoo took their first lead of the game since the seven second mark of the first period. Trent Daavettila notched his 11th of the season and his 200th career point on a tic-tac-toe passing play. Nick Sirota extended his point streak to four games with an assist on the tally.
Just over a minute later, Cincinnati tied the game up for the second time of the game. Mathieu Aubin scored his 19th of the season on a rebound in front of Gill. The goal for Aubin was his team leading seventh against the K-Wings on the season.
Kalamazoo reclaimed the lead 3:35 into the third period, when Darryl Bootland stole the puck and center it to Daavettila (12th) for the eventual-game winner and his second goal of the night.
The victory was the K-Wings nine straight on Pink Ice and improved their record to 9-3-0-0 during the annual Valentine’s Classic.
Kalamazoo and Cincinnati will meet again this Friday, February 17th at 7:35 p.m. in the second half of the home-and-home series at the U.S. Bank Arena.
The K-Wings will begin four-game home stand with a 7:30 p.m. face-off versus the Gwinnett Gladiators during Scout Night and the first-ever Susan G. Komen K-Wings for a Cure game, presented by Consumer Energy, Take Me Transportation and WNWN. Saturday night will also be a Win-Win Night. If the K-Wings win, all fans in attendance will receive a voucher for a FREE ticket to Kalamazoo’s home game on February 22nd.
Tickets for all K-Wings home games are $12.90 and $16.90 for adults and only $6.90 for kids ages 12 and under. The price for all K-Wings premium night games (all colored ice games and New Year’s Eve game) are just $1 more. Fans can save money by purchasing K-Wings single game tickets in advance because tickets purchased on the day of a game increase by $1.
Submitted by Mike Modugno
