The Toledo Walleye had a busy weekend, playing three games. Friday, March 8th, kicked off the weekend as it was Rock the Rink weekend, with a John Lethemon bobblehead giveaway on Friday night. Rock the Rink is a special promotion that involves rock music on the concourse, while the Walleye wore special rock-n-roll jerseys. This was a good weekend to pick up six points as the season winds down.
Friday, March 8th, would see the home team, Walleye, take on the rival Cincinnati Cyclones. Toledo would start John Lethemon between the pipes, Brandon Michaelian and Michael Prapavessis on defense, and Brandon Hawkins, Trenton Bliss, and Colin Keenan up front.
The visiting Cyclones would get on the board first as Remy Parker would get a power-play goal, his first goal of the season, with Noah Kane and Sahil Panwar getting the helpers. Toledo forward Alexandre Doucet was in the box for a high-sticking double minor. Cincinnati would strike on the same power play again as Nick Isaacson picked up his ninth of the season on a perfectly placed shot, as Patrick Polino and Jalen Smereck would get the assists.
ECHL leading scorer Brandon Hawkins would score his 34th as Mitchell Lewandowski and Brandon Kruse assisted on the goal at the 15:53 mark. Riley Sawchuk would tie the game at 2 with his 18th goal of the season, with Bliss and Matt Anderson getting the helpers at 18:34. The period would end with the game tied at 2, but Toledo carrying some momentum coming back from an 0-2 deficit.
The third period would begin with both teams getting chances but the Walleye would score their third straight goal, this one coming off the stick of Sam Craggs. He would score his 25th of the season, with Kruse getting the lone helper of the game at 7:50. Toledo continued their scoring as Hawkins would score a power play goal, his second of the game and 35th of the season. The man-advantage goal would be scored at 10:01, and Prapavessis and Sawchuk getting the assists. The Cyclones would inch closer as Lincoln Griffin scored his 13th of the season at 19:42 with Smereck and Polino getting their second assists of the game. It would prove to not be enough as Toledo would take this one, 4-3, and had the shot advantage at 41-27. The Walleye were 1-for-4 on the man-advantage, and Cincinnati was 2-for-3.
The Walleye looked to continue their winning ways as they took on another rival, the Kalamazoo Wings on Saturday, March 9th. Toledo would start Jan Bednar between the pipes, Riley McCourt and Grant Gabriele on defense, and Brandon Hawkins, Trenton Bliss, and Conlan Keenan at the forward spots.
The first period saw plenty of chances by both teams but neither team found the back of the net. Kalamazoo’s Quinn Preston was whistled for holding, a 2:00 minor, at the 8:10 mark and Toledo’s Mitchell Lewandoski would also get a penalty, a 2:00 minor for tripping at 11:45 with both team killing off their penalties. The shots were 9-7 for Toledo in period 1.
Period 2 would see both teams find the back of the net as the Wings’ Luke Morgan scored his sixth of the season, an unassisted goal, at 5:29. Toledo would respond shortly after as Mitchell Lewandoski would score his 12th of the season, a power play goal, as Brandon Hawkins and Riley McCourt would get the assists at 8:21. The Walleye would take the lead at 14:16 as Riley Sawchuk scored his 19th off assists from Alexandre Doucet and Adrien Beraldo. The second period closes with Toledo having a 2-1 edge as well as a 23-19 shot advantage through 2.
Toledo would take advantage of some sloppy Kalamazoo play to take a commanding lead. Toledo’s Hawkins scored his 36th of the season at 16:17, with Doucet and Sawchuk assisting on the play. Walleye forward Chase Gresock scored on an empty-net goal, his 13th, as Sam Craggs and Brandon Kruse would help put the Wings away and grab a 4-1 win. Kalamazoo would outshoot Toledo 12-11 in the third, but the Walleye had the overall advantage 34-31.
The Walleye would look to sweep the weekend series as they played their second straight game against the Wings. John Lethemon would start in net, with Riley McCourt and Grant Gabriele on defense, and Trenton Bliss, Brandon Hawkins, and Conlan Keenan up front.
Defenseman Michael Prapavessis scored his first of the season, giving the Walleye a 1-0 lead at 6:04 with assists to Alexandre Doucet and Riley Sawchuk. Just 3:28 later, Toledo would go up 2-0 on a goal by Keenan, his 19th of the season, with Hawkins and Bliss getting the assists. Kalamazoo would even the score as defenseman Derek Dashcke scored his 15th, Quinn Preston and Jacob Nordqvist helped score the first power play goal of the game at 10:53. Keenan was at it again, scoring his 20th and second of the game at 12:41 as Hawkins and Prapavessis getting the assists. The Wings’ Ayden MacDonald scored his 7th to get Kalamazoo closer with assists to Erik Bradford and Michael Joyaux to close out the second period as Toledo held a 13-11 shot advantage.
Kalamazoo opened the second period by scoring at the 0:50 mark on a goal by Chaz Reddekopp, his second, on assists from MacDonald and Luke Morgan. Kalamazoo would add to their lead on a goal by Quinn Preston, his fourth, from Collin Adams and Collin Saccoam at 1:53. Adams would score his 15th of the year from Preston and Jordan Seyfert at 5:20 to close out the scoring for the Wings, and the second period, Kalamazoo outshot the Walleye 13-11, as the shots were even at 24 after 2.
Period 3 would only see one goal, and that goal would come off the stick of Walleye forward Chase Gresock, his 14th, with Brandon Kruse getting the only assist at 1:29. Neither team would score after this, but Toledo dominated in both the play and shots in the final frame. The Wings would take the game, 5-4, but the Walleye outshot the Wings 14-4 in the third and 38-28 in the game.
