A busy weekend ended with a loss for the Kalamazoo Wings (16-18-1-3) on Sunday afternoon. The K-Wings find themselves in fifth place in the Central Division, four points out of a playoff spot.
After falling to the Brampton Beast (20-13-2-2) on Friday night in overtime by a score of 5-4, the K-Wings hit the road traveling to Wheeling, West Virginia to take on the Nailers (18-14-3-0) Saturday night. The K-Wings came up victorious defeating the Nailers 5-1. The two teams then made the trek to Kalamazoo for the matinee on Sunday.
On Friday night, the K-Wings came out of the gates scoring three first period goals but ended up losing to the Beast in overtime.
On Sunday, the Nailers came out flying, scoring three first period goals but the K-Wings were never able to recover.
It didn’t take the Nailers long to score their first of the night, just three minutes and eleven seconds, to be exact. Christian Hilbrich got the Nailers on the board with his seventh of the season, to give the visitors the early 1- lead.
The Nailers increased their lead at the midway point of the period as Michael Webster scored his second of the season.
Less than three minutes later, the Nailers struck again as Hilbrich scored his second of the game. A shot by Gage Quinney’s missed the net, but bounced off the glass to Hilbrich who pushed it into the net.
Things didn’t improve for the K-Wings in the second period as Jordan Kwas scored his 12th of the season.
Lane Scheidl gave the K-Wings some life later in the period as he scored his 12th of the season to cut the Nailers lead to 4-1. .
Four minutes after Scheidl’s marker for the Wings, Hilbrich scored again and capped off his hat trick with his third of the night.
Heading into the third period and trailing 5-1, Kyle Bushee scored his third of the year while on the penalty kill to again cut the Nailers lead to three goals. However, that was the end of the scoring for both teams as the Nailers skated away with a 5-2 victory.
The K-Wings travel to Brampton, ON, Friday to take on the Beast. The K-Wings return home for two games on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, the K-Wings host the Fort Wayne Komets at 7 PM and on Sunday the Toledo Walleye come to town for a 3 PM game.
K-Wings News and Notes:
Friday: Kalamazoo’s loss to Brampton snapped a seven-game winning streak against the Beast which dated back to February, 2016… The loss snapped a four-game winning streak… Kalamazoo is unbeaten in regulation in their last five games… Biggs has tallied an assist in four of his last five games… Kalamazoo scored their fifth shorthanded goal of the season.
Saturday: Scheidl has five points in his last two games… Bushee has points in five of his last six games…ten of Kalamazoo’s 15 skaters had points… The K-Wings were outscored 11-1 at WesBanco arena this season before tonight’s game… Kalamazoo is unbeaten in regulation in their last six games… Carr was pulled in favor of Sean Maguire in the second period and then returned to the game in the middle of the third period.
Sunday: The loss snapped Kalamazoo’s active six-game point streak… Bushee has points in six of his last seven games… Wheeling snapped a seven-game road losing streak… Kalamazoo is 1-3-0-1 against Wheeling this season… Scheidl has goals in three straight and has registered six points in his last three contests…Kalamazoo has allowed two hat tricks this season, both to Wheeling Nailers forwards…Kalamazoo scored their sixth shorthanded goal of the season.
Submitted by Mark McGlothlen