Pouring it on: Walleye dominate 3rd for victory

Florida's Francis Lemieux, left, and Toledo's Sebastien Piche chase the puck in the second period. JETTA FRASER / TOLEDO BLADE Enlarge

Toledo was tied with Florida at 3 heading into the crucial third period at the Huntington Center. The Walleye scored four goals in a span of 10:20 and went on to post an 8-4 triumph over the Everblades before 5,412 spectators.

Playing a third game in as many days, Kyle Rogers scored two goals, including the game winner. Mike Hedden also scored twice for the Walleye (19-20-3), who could have slipped farther out of the playoff race after dropping two straight at home.

"We knew this was a huge game for us to get back on the right track," Rogers said. "Sometimes you fall off the map a couple days and it was big effort from everyone. It's great to score two goals, but the most important thing is that we got the two points."

Toledo won it with a five-goal outburst in the third.

Tyler Doig, who had a hat trick on Saturday night, put Toledo up 4-3 with 16:13 left in the game. Christopher DiDomenico won a faceoff deep in Florida's end and got it to Doig, whose quick snap shot beat Florida goalie Shane Owen through his legs.

Rogers then notched his second to add an important cushion with 14:32. Rogers got free on a pass from Zach Torquato, who had a goal and two assists. Rogers followed up his own shot and pushed in the rebound.

Florida's Francis Lemieux tallied a hat trick and his third pulled Florida back within a goal, 5-4, with 11:29 left. But Toledo sealed it with goals from Hedden, Dave Phillips, and Torquato over the final 6:48. The Walleye tallied four goals over the last 16:13.

"We've been a streaky team like that," Toledo coach Nick Vitucci said. "We score in bunches. It was a huge win after a couple of really disappointing games, effort-wise. We turned what could have been a terrible weekend into a salvageable weekend."

The Walleye remain in last place in the North Division, but stayed within three points of third place. Toledo had been outscored 12-4 in two straight losses.

"The first two games this weekend were ugly for us," Rogers said. "We had to have a group effort. We needed to keep things simple."

Walleye goalie Jimmy Spratt (3-1-0) finished with 31 saves.

Lemieux scored his third while Toledo was down two skaters. Lemieux, who leads the ECHL in scoring, has 11 points (6 G, 5A) in five games against Toledo.

Toledo finished a six-game homestand with a 4-2-0 record. The team's next three games are on the road starting Wednesday at Kalamazoo.

With the game tied at 1, Toledo defenseman Scott Fletcher scored with just 1.3 seconds left in the first period. Owen went behind the net to get to the puck. Instead Toledo's Evan Rankin got to it and sent the puck out front to Fletcher who slammed it home.

Toledo grabbed a 3-1 lead on a power play goal by Rogers 6:35 into the second. Rogers scored with a one timer off of a pass from the side of the net from Torquato.

Spratt then was terrific when Toledo faced a two-man advantage that lasted 1:48 midway through the second period. Spratt stopped a point-blank shot, followed it with a stick save and then a kick save.

But Matt Beca pulled Florida back within one and Lemieux then scored his second to tie it at 3 with 5:58 left in the second.

Hedden's second of the game came on the power play and put Toledo back up by two with 6:48 left. Phillips' perfectly placed shot then gave Toledo a 7-4 lead and Torquato added a shorthanded, empty netter with 1:32 left.

Rogers said he hasn't been able to eat the past few days because of a cold. "Kyle was really under the weather as the game went on. So it was a big effort by him," Vitucci said. "But it took 16 guys to buy in. We competed in all areas."

Toledo is 11-11-1 at home. Vitucci said he's been frustrated by his team's lack of a consistent work ethic.

"It's hard to swallow when you're outworked," Vitucci said. "The last two nights we were outworked consistently. [Sunday] we worked hard. That's all we ask."

FISH TALES: Six Walleye players (Randy Rowe, Rogers, Doig, Torquato, DiDomenico, and Hedden) had multiple points. … Rogers just missed scoring a hat trick when his shot went just wide of an empty net with two minutes left. … It took just 22 seconds for the Walleye to score the game's first goal as Hedden capitalized on a solo breakaway. Lemieux, who scored two goals in Florida's 7-3 win on Saturday, evened the game at 1. … Owen, who made his pro debut, was pulled from the game in the third and finished with 21 saves. His replacement, Bobby Goepfert gave up two goals on seven shots. … Florida had a 35-34 edge in shots. … Toledo went 2 of 4 on the power play.

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com or 419-724-6354.