Cincinnati, OH- After dropping their first six visits to the U.S. Bank Arena, the Kalamazoo Wings picked the right time to snap the streak defeating the Cincinnati Cyclones 6-3. The victory increase Kalamazoo’s North Division lead to four points over Cincinnati and in the process the K-Wings leaped frog the South Carolina Stingrays for first place in the American Conference.

 

In six previous visits to the Queen City, the K-Wings struggled in the first period against the Cyclones. Saturday that all changed for Kalamazoo, as they exploded for three goals in the first 20 minutes.

 

Trying to center a cross rink pass, Mathieu Curadeau’s attempted was block right back to his stick, where he then lifted past Robert Mayer to give the K-Wings the advantage 5:15 into the first period. The goal was Curadeau’s 21st of the season.

 

A turnover in the K-Wings zone proved costly for Kalamazoo. After stealing the puck, Jimmy Kilpatrick (14th) skated to the slot and wristed the equalizer 9:44 into the period past Ryan Nie.

 

Just 19 seconds after relinquishing the lead, Kalamazoo grabbed it back, with a goal from Sam Ftorek (23). The goal extended Ftorek’s point streak to 10 games and his goal streak to a K-Wings season-high five games.

 

Snapping a 0-for-11 streak on the power-play late in the period, Andrew Fournier (24th) recorded his third point (1 goal, 2 assists) of the stanza with a rebound tally to push the K-Wings advantage to two goals.

 

Despite being out-shot 15-5 in the second period, Kalamazoo kept Cincinnati off the scoreboard in the second period to preserve their two-goal led through 40 minutes.

 

Cincinnati pounced back in the third period with a pair of goals from Mathieu Aubin (16th) and Mark Van Guilder (5th) to tie the game at 3-3.

 

However, staying resilient the K-Wings answered back 9:22 into the final period with another power-play marker from Fournier (25th), which proved to be the game-winner.

 

The K-Wings tacked on a pair of empty-netters late in the game from Ftorek (24th) and a hat trick earning tally from Fournier (26th) to preserve the three-goal victory.

 

Cincinnati out-shot Kalamazoo 42-26 for the game.

Nie earned his league-leading 26th win of the season stopping 39 shots.

 

For Game Stats: http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/official-game-report.php?game_id=7850.       

Kalamazoo will conclude the road portion of their 2009-10 schedule tomorrow Sunday, March 28th with a 4 p.m. encounter against the Toledo Walleye.

 

The K-Wings will return to Wings Stadium Wednesday, March 31st with a 7p.m. face-off versus the Cyclones.  

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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