Despite clinching the ECHL Central Division title on Saturday, the Walleye saw their losing streak extend to four games with a 2-1 lost to rival Fort Wayne today.
Komets forward Gabriel Desjardins scored the game-winning goal with 10:59 left in regulation.
Fort Wayne took a 1-0 lead when former Walleye player Brett Perlini scored at 7:08 of the second period. But Toledo tied it a little more than two minutes later when defenseman Landon Oslanski scored a power-play goal as the Walleye scored on their first shot of the second period. Oslanksi scored on a well-placed shot that beat Komets goalie Pat Nagle (17 saves) over his right shoulder. Beau Schmitz and Alex Globke earned the assists.
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Desjardins skated around two Walleye players and finished the play with his 20th goal to give the Komets a 2-1 lead with 10:59 left in the third.
Walleye goalie Jake Paterson stopped 33 of 35 shots before a crowd of 6,837 at the Huntington Center.
The Walleye have three games left in the regular-season with two on the road. They have a rematch with the Komets on Wednesday in Fort Wayne before playing at Indy on Friday. The regular-season finale is next Saturday at home against Indy.
Toledo (48-17-4) has clinched the division as second-place Fort Wayne (43-18-8) can not overtake the Walleye for the Central Division title.
The Walleye, who have 100 points, have now set their sights on winning the Brabham Cup. Toledo needs five points to clinch the regular-season championship outright. Toledo is slugging it out with Allen for the overall league title. The Americans, who have a record of 46-17-6 for 98 points, are on a 12-0-1 streak. Both teams have three games left. It would be the second Brabham Cup in the franchise's eight-year history (2014-15).
Toledo will face rival Kalamazoo in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs. The best-of-seven series will follow a 2-2-1-1-1 format. The first two games will be played at the Huntington Center on April 14 and 15. The two road games would be played at K-Zoo on April 18 and 19. Game 5 would be on April 21, if necessary. The last two games would be April 23 at Kalamazoo and on April 25 in Toledo.
Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354 or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.
First Published April 2, 2017, 11:58 p.m.
