Walleye lose 6-4 to Kalamazoo
3/15/2014The Toledo Walleye gave up two goals in each period tonight and lost 6-4 to Kalamazoo.
The Wings opened the scoring just 20 seconds into the game before a capacity crowd of 7,761 at the Huntington Center.
Defenseman Joe Gleason, forward David Gilbert, defenseman Richard Nedomlel, and rookie Ken Peroff scored for Toledo and goalie Hannu Toivonen finished with 34 saves.
It was the second straight night that Kalamazoo (37-18-5), which is in first place in the ECHL North Division, defeated the last-place Walleye (18-36-4).
Kalamazoo scored moments after the opening faceoff as Chris Lawrence tallied an unassisted goal.
PHOTO GALLERY: Click here to view photos of the game.
Then just as a Wings' power play expired, Yannick Veilleux gave Kalamazoo a 2-0 lead on a long shot from the point. Toivonen appeared to be screened on the shot with 7:40 left in the first.
Kalamazoo then seized a 3-0 lead on a hard shot from Jeremie Blain 2:10 into the second period.
Toledo then scored four seconds into a power play as Gleason blasted a shot by Wings goalie Joel Martin to make it 3-1 early in the second.
Kalamazoo then went up 4-1 on Justin Taylor's goal with eight minutes left in the middle period.
Toledo scored a power play goal to pull back within two goals. Gilbert scored his team-leading 15th on a tip right in front of the Wings' net. It took Toledo just nine seconds into the power play for the Walleye to make it 4-2 with 4:51 left in second period.
Matt Caria and Lawrence scored early in the third to give Kalamazoo a 6-2 cushion.
Nedomlel scored his eighth goal of the year with 7:51 left. Peroff then scored his first pro goal just 40 seconds later to make it 6-4.
The Walleye have lost 10 games in a row at the Huntington Center. Toledo has not won a home game since Jan. 26 and is now 9-19-0 on home ice. The Walleye host Fort Wayne on Sunday.
The Walleye players wore special green jerseys that were auctioned off following the game with proceeds benefiting the Toledo Fire and Rescue Foundation.
The organization honored James Dickman and Stephen Machcinski during a pre-game ceremony. The two Toledo firefighters died in the line of duty on Jan. 26. It was an emotional moment when players from both teams shook hands with members of the Dickman family. Greg Dickman, father of James Dickman, dropped the ceremonial first puck.