Kalamazoo, MI- Dropping four straight before the all-star break, the Kalamazoo Wings took out their frustrations, in front of the largest crowd this season at Wings Stadium of 4,830, demolishing the Cincinnati Cyclones 7-1 on Culver’s Night.
Entering Friday’s encounter the K-Wings struggled against the Cyclones, dropping their last six games and only generating five goals in their last four meetings; however, that would change quickly.
Before the crowd could settle in, Kalamazoo registered twice on the scoreboard. In his K-Wings debut, Dean Strong stole the puck behind the Cyclones net and sent a perfect pass to the tape of Matt Jones (16th), who scored 61 seconds into the game.
Extending their lead 1:36 later, Trent Daavettila (10th) began this three-point night by flipping a shot over Robert Mayer, hitting the crossbar and over the goal line.
Daavettila helped Kalamazoo grow their lead to three-goals sending a backhanded pass to the high-slot to Jon Landry, who rifled this fourth goal of the season and his first as a K-Wing.
In the second period, Strong and Jones collaborated in similar fashion to give the K-Wings a four-goal advantage, as Jones (17th) tipped a Strong right-circle slap-shot past Mayer.
Mayer’s night would come to an end later in the period, when Tyler Willis’ cross-rink pass was tipped back to Will Colbert. Not wasting the opportunity, Colbert (3rd) rifled a slap shot to extend the K-Wings lead to 5-0.
Following the tally, Mayer was pulled in favor of all-star netminder Jeremy Smith. Mayer, who would earn the loss, stopped 10 of 15 shots in 37:15 between the pipes. Playing the remainder of the contest, Smith allowed two goals on 14 shots.
Ending the shutout bid of Ryan Nie in the third period, Cincinnati registered their only goal of the night with a power-play deflection from Mike McLean (10th). Nie would stone the Cyclones the remainder of the night turning a side 20 saves for the victory.
Keeping the pressure on the Cyclones, Daavettila earned his second assist of the night, sending a drop pass to Andrew Fournier. Smith save their initial shot from Fournier, but Andrew was there for the rebound to record his team-leading 18th goal of the season.
Not only scoring early, but also late, Kalamazoo concluded scoring with 3.6 seconds remaining in the game, Darryl Bootland sent a no-look between the legs pass to the tape of Darryl Lloyd, who jammed in his ninth lamp-lighter of the year.
The goal from Lloyd gives him a team-high six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in six games against Cincinnati.
The win not only snapped a four-game drought for Kalamazoo, it extended their home-winning streak to four games.
The six-goal victory is the biggest this season for Kalamazoo, who tied a season-high (four previous times) of goals in a game. The seven-goals allowed by the Cyclones tied their season-high for most allowed.
For Game Stats: http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/official-game-report.php?game_id=7564
Kalamazoo and Cincinnati will conclude their home and home series tomorrow, January 23rd with a 7:30 p.m. match-up at the U.S. Bank Arena.
The K-Wings will return to Wings Stadium this Sunday, January 24th with a 4 p.m. face-off versus the Toledo Walleye on Charter Day. The first 1,000 kids (12 and under) will receive a pair of Thundersticks courtesy of Charter Media. Sunday’s game will also feature a post-game skate with the players.
For an additional $10 fans can upgrade their tickets to make them all-you-can-eat seats, featuring hot dogs, nachos and popcorn.
Single-game tickets for any of the K-Wings 36 regular season home games are currently on sale at the Wings Stadium Ticket Office. Ticket Office hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, call Wings Stadium Ticket Office during regular business hours at (269) 345-5101.
For more information about tonight’s game, please contact director of public relations/broadcaster Mike Modugno at (269) 349-9772 extension 220.
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