Walleye Has Team Effort To Sail Past K-Wings

The Toledo Walleye came into Saturday’s game at Kalamazoo with a 6-2-1 road record. That total reached seven after taking down the Wings 5-1 at Wings Event Center.

It was the true definition of a team effort by the Walleye, as nine players tallied points to get the victory. Griffin Ness and Carson Bantle each potted two goals.

The Walleye got on the board first at 8:38 of the opening frame, when Ness notched his seventh goal of the season. He got help from Casey Dornbach and Darian Pilon, who picked up his first point of the campaign.

At the 9:23 mark of the second period, former K-Wings captain Chaz Reddekopp came back to haunt his old team with his second goal of the year to increase Toledo’s lead to 2-0.

Carson Bantle scored the first of his two goals on the night at 13:47 of the middle frame after rifling the puck into the net for his eighth of the season. Reddekopp and Brandon Kruse both earned assists.

The K-Wings finally got on the scoreboard when Joseph Arntsen notched his fourth of the season on a one-timer from the right faceoff dot with 25 seconds left in the period to cut the deficit to 3-1.

The Walleye weren’t done, however. Bantle got his second of the game at the 11:09 mark of the third, practically in the same area as his first goal. It came on a power-play, with Kruse and Ness assisting.

Ness added his second of the night on an empty-netter to seal the 5-1 victory for Toledo, who improve to 12-5-2 for the season. Kalamazoo falls to 6-10-1.

It was a big win for Toledo goaltender Jan Bednar, who had 23 saves and earned his 30^th victory in a Walleye sweater. Jonathan Lemieux had 25 saves in the loss.

The only good news for the K-Wings came when teddy bears were thrown onto the ice following Arntsen’s goal. It was Lavender Ice/Teddy Bear Toss Night, and over 2,000 stuffed animals were donated to Toys for Tots.

Toledo’s next action will be a Wednesday morning home game against the Iowa Heartlanders in the second School Education Day of the season.

The K-Wings will take to the road with their next game Friday at Wheeling against a red-hot Nailers squad, winners of their last eight.