Walleye win 4th straight with OT victory

Walleye goalie Alec Richards makes a stop in the second period Sunday afternoon at the Huntington Center. Richards had 24 saves. THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Essentially the ECHL playoffs have begun for the Toledo Walleye.

Sitting five points from a playoff spot with a little more than a quarter of the season left, the Walleye are starting to find a groove and dig out of the near bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Kyle Rogers ended a nailbiter of a contest on Sunday afternoon at the Huntington Center with an overtime goal to lift Toledo past Cincinnati 3-2, giving the Walleye a season-best fourth win in a row in the last five days.

"It was a great effort by all of us in that locker room," said Rogers, who scored with 42 seconds left in the extra period. "We all stuck together and sure enough it paid off and we have gotten all eight points and are still in the chase."

Photo gallery of the game

Andrej Nestrasil scored a goal and an assist, while Todd Griffith added a tally in the win for Toledo (22-23-4), which is tied for 10th with Reading in the Eastern Conference.

The top eight teams make the ECHL playoffs. Toledo trails eighth place Chicago by four points.

"This was much needed," said Walleye coach Nick Vitucci of the winning streak. "We have been inconsistent this year -- some flat efforts -- but these last four games have been a lot of fun to be a part of, and the guys have been stepping up."

Rogers scored on a pass from Joey Martin, who found the winger streaking down the left side of the ice.

Rogers was able to get a shot off and beat Cincinnati goaltender Brad Fogal.

Joey Ryan was also credited with an assist on the game-winner.

Toledo goaltender Alec Richards finished with 24 saves to improve to 4-0-0 in between the pipes for the Walleye.

"He is huge. He came here with a positive attitude, and he came here to win and get better," Rogers said of the netminder who joined the team from AHL Rockford less than a week ago. "If we have a guy that is back there working his tail off, the guys up front are going to try to play better for him, and it's been paying off."

"He's a nice luxury [to have]," Vitucci said. "Richards is giving us a world-class effort right now."

Toledo dug out of a 2-1 hole to tie the game on Nestrasil's power-play goal with 8:21 left in the contest.

Paul Zanette took the puck from the corner, stepped out in front, and fed Nestrasil, who was camped to the right of Fogal to slam home the game-tying goal.

Harrison Reed also was credited with an assist on the goal.

The Cyclones opened the scoring early in the second period as Rob Slaney scored off a rebound after Richards made the initial stop on a shot fired from the corner by Garrett Wilson 2:52 into the period.

After a failed power play midway through the period, the Walleye were able to tie the game with a goal by Griffith with 5:22 left in the stanza. It started as defenseman Matt Krug passed the puck from near the Walleye net up to a waiting Nestrasil at the Cyclone blueline.

He was able to hit Griffith in stride for a 1-on-1 with Fogel, and he slid the puck past to tie the game.

Cincinnati scored less than a minute later as Dan Eves scored on a backhand shot after Matt Sisca won the faceoff to the right of Richards and Jonathan Hazen picked up the puck and fed it to Eves.

Neither team was able to dent the twine in the first period.

Cincinnati was able to get off shots, but not many found the net thanks to the Walleye defense using their sticks and bodies to deflect away the puck to limit the Cyclones to only six shots on net.

The Walleye's best chance came with 6:30 left in the period as Martin's tip of a Rogers pass went just wide of the pipe to the left of Fogel.

A cross checking penalty to Ryan with 2:08 left gave Cincinnati its best chance at a goal in the period. The Cyclones got off two shots on the power play, but Richards was up to the task, stopping one chance with a pad save while the other was a spectacular glove save that Richards had to make after over playing the puck to his right and needing to dart his glove back to deflect the puck.

NOTES: Griffith sparked the crowd's interest with a bout against Cincinnati's Chris Clark midway through the first period. Griffith ended up pulling Clark down to the ice with a series of rights after the two had locked up at center ice. ... Fans were able to meet a few legends at the Huntington Center on Sunday. Marvel Comics character Thor met with families during the game while Detroit Red Wings living legend Ted Lindsay met with fans between the first and second intermission as well. Lindsay played 14 seasons for Detroit (1944-57, 64-64) and was a part of the famed "Production Line" with Gordie Howe and Sid Abel, along with three seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks (1956-60). He coached the Wings for 20 games during the 1980-81 seasons. Lindsay dropped the ceremonial puck before the contest ... The Walleye are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and 12-12-2 at home. ... The Walleye lead the series against the Cyclones by a 22-12-2 mark, including a 10-8-0 record at home. ... The Walleye continue to lead the ECHL in attendance with 155,765 after having 7,004 at Sunday's contest.