ECHL: Kalamazoo Wings battle but lose twice

The Kalamazoo Wings played two teams on opposite ends of the Central Division standings last weekend, losing both contests.

On Friday, March 10, the K-Wings faced the Central Division-leading Toledo Walleye (39-15-4-2, 84 pts) at home and lost 4-1. Toledo opened the scoring 13 seconds into the game and extended their lead to 2-0 at 6:14 in the first period. Kalamazoo refused to quit, outshooting the Walleye over the final two periods. Despite this, Detroit Red Wing prospect Sebastian Cossa turned in another strong performance between the pipes to preserve the win for Toledo.

The score remained 2-0 in favor of the Walleye until late in the third period when the K-Wings pulled goalie Pavel Cajan for an extra attacker, hoping to generate some offense. Toledo scored on the empty net instead at 17:24 of the third. Kalamazoo continued to pressure and was rewarded with a goal by Raymond Brice with 1:23 left in the game. Justin Taylor and Ryan Cook earned the assists on the goal. Cajan was pulled again after this goal, and Toledo scored their second empty netter of the game at 19:18. The overall shots were 37-22 in favor of Kalamazoo.

On Saturday, March 11, Kalamazoo traveled to Coralville, Iowa, to face the Iowa Heartlanders (15-30-12-1, 43 pts.), who currently reside in last place in the Central Division. Hoping for a better result than the previous night, the K-Wings got on the board early, scoring on their first shot of the game 34 seconds in. Justin Taylor got the goal on assists from Mason McCarty and Justin Murray. However, Iowa answered quickly, scoring at 1:04 to tie the game on their first shot. Kalamazoo regained the lead at 8:15 of the first on a power play goal from Kurt Gosselin, with assists from Brandon Saigeon and Olivier LeBlanc. Iowa responded with two more goals in the second period to take the lead, including a power play goal of their own at 3:07 and an even-strength tally at 15:23. The Heartlanders extended their lead to 4-2 at 4:09 of the third. Still, Max Humitz scored at 6:29 to bring the K-Wings within one, with Justin Murray and Collin Saccoman earning the assists.

The K-Wings return home on Friday, March 17, for their St. Patricks Day “Green ice” game against the Fort Wayne Komets. The game is already standing room only and is expected to be completely sold out by the 7:00 pm face-off.

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