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KALAMAZOO — The Kalamazoo Wings not only dropped both games this weekend to division foes, but they also lost footing in the standings. Starting the weekend in a first place tie with the Cincinnati Cyclones, the K-Wings are now in third place, four points behind the first place Cyclones in the ECHL’s North Division.
Looking to get back to their winning ways following a loss Wednesday night to the Cyclones, the K-Wings jumped out to a 2-1 lead midway into the second period over the Cyclones on Friday night at Wings Stadium. Joe Charlebois and Elgin Reid scored for the K-Wings.
That lead quickly disappeared as the Cyclones reeled off three goals in a span of one minute and five seconds to take a 4-2 lead over the K-Wings.
Down but not out, the K-Wings’ Brett Lysak scored a pair of goals, both on the power play, just over a minute apart, to tie the game at 4-4 with just five minutes left in regulation.
Mike Embach scored the game-winner for the Cyclones with just over two minutes remaining in the game to give them the victory and sole possession of first place.
For the second straight night, the K-Wings failed to dig themselves out of a hole as the Fort Wayne Komets scored five consecutive goals in route to a 6-5 win on Saturday afternoon.
After taking a 1-0 lead on a John Armstrong power play goal, the Komets tied the score late in the first on a Jean-Michel Rizk goal.
Thomas Beauregard opened the second period with a pair of goals for the Komets to put them ahead by a score of 3-1. Josh Brittain and Daniel Maggio also scored in the period to put the Komets up by a 5-1 margin.
A power play tally by Darren Archibald was enough to give the K-Wings some momentum. Dustin Cloutier scored his first of the season just over two minutes later on a Sam Ftorek pass to cut the lead to 5-3.
Adam Polasek scored on the rebound midway into the final period to bring the K-Wings to within a single goal.
The Komets’ Beauregard seemingly finished off the K-Wings with an empty-net goal, his third of the afternoon, to give the Komets a 6-4 lead with just under a minute to go in the game.
A Nick Sirota goal with just 4.7 seconds left in the game cut the lead to 6-5, but the clock ran out on the K-Wings.
For the night, the K-Wings were 2-for-7 on the power play while the Komets were 1-for-4.
The K-Wings record now stands at 5-4-0-0 and are in third place with 10 points on the season.
K-Wings News and Notes
Matczak to Monarchs: Defenseman Mike Matczak was loaned to the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL this weekend. Matczak started the season in the Monarchs training camp and becomes the second K-Wings player this season to be called-up to the American Hockey League.
Upcoming games: The K-Wings continue their five-game home stand with a 10:30 a.m. game on Wednesday against the South Carolina Stingrays on Education Day. The two teams face-off again on Friday night and the Fort Wayne Komets return to Wings Stadium on Saturday night. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.
