Rankin Scores Five Times as Walleye Bomb Charlotte 7-0!
2/19/2010 - Box Score | Tickets | Upcoming Schedule
(Charlotte, NC)– Evan Rankin collected Toledo’s first five goal game of the season as the Walleye defeated Charlotte 7-0. Toledo’s record is 28-21-1-3 on the season, and they are 11-10-1-2 on the road. It was the biggest winning margin of the season for the Walleye.
The Walleye jumped out early as Evan Rankin scored twice in the first period. His first goal came at 2:35 of the first when he took a pass from Maxime Tanguay and his one-timer beat Ryan Munce (Scooter Smith also assisting). The second for Evan came at 8:37 as he beat Munce with a wrist shot from the right circle (JC Sawyer and Tanguay assisting). Toledo was not done in the first as Derek Nesbitt beat Munce with a wrist shot from the left circle for his 11th goal of the year. The Walleye led 3-0 after the first period.
“Wow did we have some terrific jump right out of the gate,” said Head Coach Nick Vitucci. “It’s a great reminder of how good this team can be offensively.”
Toledo continued the offensive onslaught in the second as they would strike three times. Rankin would collect his second hat trick of the season at the 3:00 mark as he tapped in a rebound. Tanguay and Sawyer assisted on that goal. Joe Charlebois would make it 5-0 Toledo on the power play as he one-timed a pass from Derek Nesbitt for his fourth goal of the year (Sebastien Piche). Rankin would collect his 25th goal of the season at 15:53 of the second as he roofed a one-timer past Munce (Malcolm MacMillan and Luis Tremblay). Rankin would collect his fifth goal of the night at 16:27 of the third as he fired a Tanguay pass into the back of the net.
Walleye Notes: Goaltender Jordan Pearce made 33 saves for his second professional shutout. Jordan is 11-12-1-0 on the season, and has posted shutouts in two of last three starts. Maxime Tanguay finished the game with 4 assists. The Walleye are 5-7-1-2 against the South Division this year. Toledo finished 1 for 6 on the power play. The Walleye have denied 26 of the last 27 power plays against.
Five Plus Goals: Evan Rankin becomes the 3rd player to score five or more goals with Toledo in the ECHL. Mark Deazeley scored five times on February 16, 1994 vs. Huntsville and Brad McCaughey scored six times on November 6, 1991 vs. Columbus.
