WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
KALAMAZOO-A goal by Phil Rauch late in the third period broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Toledo Walleye the win over the Kalamazoo Wings and sole possession of first place in the ECHL’s North Division on Sunday evening at Wings Stadium.
The Walleye (11-7-0-1) have a one point lead over the second place Cincinnati Cyclones and a five point advantage over the third place K-Wings (9-9-0-0). The Fort Wayne Komets are one point behind the K-Wings in fourth and the Evansville IceMen are 10 points behind the division leaders and are in last.
Managing to jump out to a quick 1-0 lead, Kory Karlander sent a John Armstrong pass into the net for a power play goal early in the first period. Both Armstrong and Karlander are riding four-point scoring streaks. Mitch Versteeg also earned an assist on the goal extending his point streak to three games.
Phil Oreskovic put the Walleye on the board early in the second period knocking in a rebound shot past K-Wing net minder Joel Martin to knot the game at 1-1.
The score remained tied until early in the third period when Max Campbell gave the Walleye their first lead of the night.
John Negrin scored his first goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2 minutes later. The score remained tied until the Rauch goal with just two minutes left in regulation.
The Walleye came up empty on four power play chances while the K-Wings went one-for-seven. The K-Wings were outshot 40-27 on the night.
The K-Wings will travel to Toledo for a game on Friday and then head to Evansville for a match up against the IceMen on Saturday.
Dropping a 4-3 Thanksgiving night decision to the Komets, the K-Wings came back to defeat the Komets by a score of 5-2 on Friday night at Wings Stadium.
