It wasn’t the fastest fight in Toledo hockey history. Nobody will ever beat Terrible Ted and his Murder Incorporated line unless it should somehow happen that two teams start swinging in the parking lot getting off the bus.

But the Walleye and visiting Wheeling gave it a go Saturday night in Game 2 of their Kelly Cup playoff series at Huntington Center.

The gloves landed on the ice just 25 seconds into the game and signaled a night of mostly bad blood.

Referee Ryan Murphy dished out 13 penalties for 32 minutes in the first period alone. Then he swallowed his whistle until getting busy again late in the second period. The teams were a combined 1-of-11 on the power play when they headed into overtime tied at 1-1.

The fisticuffs came quickly and, a couple hours later, so did the winning goal provided by Toledo’s No. 1 line.

Just 1:35 into sudden-death OT, a flying Shane Berschbach made a nifty move beside and then behind the net. Wheeling goalie Franky Palazzese leaned to his left, anticipating a wrap-around attempt by Berschbach, who instead smartly slipped the puck out front to teammate Troy Schwab, who had half a net free to stuff for a 2-1 Walleye victory.

And the crowd of 5,767, the largest in Toledo playoff hockey history, according to the Walleye, erupted.

Earlier, a different kind of fireworks was delivered to the fans. It was, after all, what the crowd wanted.

Rarely has the ritualistic “Hit Somebody” interrupted the national anthem with more gusto than it did on this night.

And the patrons didn’t have long to wait.

A Wheeling player delivered a hard check in front of the Nailers’ bench just 10 or 12 seconds into the game. The action swept into the corner and behind the net and punches started flying with an altercation between Toledo’s Josh Holmstrom and Wheeling’s Shane Bakker turning into the main event.

Back in the 1970s, every Toledo hockey game had a main event — or two, four, maybe six. Teddy Garvin’s very first Goaldiggers team in ’74 featured a line of legendary enforcers — Paul Tantardini, Doug Mahood, and Willie Trognitz — that needed little encouragement to get physical. The line was nicknamed Murder Incorporated, not politically correct, but sort of fitting.

One night, the Diggers were playing Saginaw across the river in the old Sports Arena and Garvin and the Gears’ coach, Don Perry, had a little history. They weren’t buddies.

So Garvin sent his most felonious line out on the little sheet of ice to start the game, a sign that good manners and finesse were not going to be the order of the night. The three Diggers were kind enough to let arena organist Eddie Rutherford squeeze off the last note of the anthem before starting a brawl before the ref even dropped the puck that still is legendary around minor league hockey.

That was the Goaldiggers’ style and when all was said and done Garvin had orchestrated a truly unexpected championship season.

The Walleye are champions too at least of the ECHL’s regular season.

But the Diggers’ style of play is not their style of play.

Saturday, for the second time in as many games, the Walleye got caught up a bit in Wheeling’s physical type of game and forgot briefly what Toledo hockey is about — fast and smart, managing a game, dictating tempo, and winning foot races to get behind opposing defenses.

Toledo had 23 shots on goal over nearly 48 minutes with nothing to show for it. Palazzese had been spectacular for Wheeling and Toledo’s Jeff Lerg wasn’t far behind.

Finally, with 12:34 left in the game, Cody Lampl wristed a point shot that was sort of a seeing-eye grounder that found the back of the net. Wheeling protested that Schwab was in the crease, but it was a mild protest.

Schwab was on-the-spot in front of the net again early in overtime and after the pass from Berschbach, who won one of those foot races, sudden death was suddenly over.

Without that favorable outcome, the No. 1-seeded Walleye would have had a problem. A loss would have meant going to Wheeling for the next three games of the best-of-seven series in an 0-2 hole.

The Nailers had won five straight, the first four necessary just to make the playoffs. They certainly looked like a team playing free and easy with house money.

One shot changed all that.

The Fightin’ Fish are back in the fray.

Contact Blade sports columnist Dave Hackenberg at: dhack@theblade.com or on Twitter @BladeHack.

First Published April 19, 2015, 4:04 a.m.