Walleye Win Wild One Against Charlotte; Team Battles Back For Sell-out Crowd In OT!
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3/6/2010 - Box Score | Tickets | Upcoming Schedule
Toledo, OH – After an incredible comeback victory to open the busy weekend of play, the Walleye were in a position to gain ground in the standings. Entering play on Saturday, the seventh-place Walleye trailed Charlotte by only four points, meaning that with a sweep over the Checkers this weekend, Toledo could take the sixth seed for the Kelly Cup playoffs.
The first period featured Toledo putting pressure on Charlotte’s goaltender, Ryan Munce, as they out-shot the visitors 16-8. However, the period ended in a scoreless tie, even though the Walleye seemed to dominate the opening period.
“We just knew we needed to keep the pressure and keep the scoring chances in our favor throughout the rest of the contest,” Head Coach Nick Vitucci said. “We had control of the tempo.”
The Walleye came out of the intermission on what seemed to be a scoring spree. 1:47 into the second, Akim Aliu led a charge with Sal Peralta leaving the penalty box. As Peralta stepped out for his infraction, he set a screen for Aliu, who brought it in to the Checkers zone. Aliu fired a shot from the top of the circle and it hit Munce, who tried to make the stop standing. The shot had enough force to trickle through the legs of Munce into the net for the game’s first score.
Less than a minute later, after the puck was brought out from behind the Charlotte net, Adam Keefe fired a shot, but the initial save was made. The rebound came out to Mike Hedden, who skillfully moved the puck to a better position with his skate to his open stick, and buried his shot over the goalie to double the lead.
Charlotte then took control, however, scoring four consecutive goals to take the lead to the second intermission. Michel Leveille went on a breakaway, but Jordan Pearce made the save as the puck went behind the net. Leveille got his own rebound and threw a firm pass to T.J. Reynolds, who was uncontested for the easy tap-in. Leveille made assists on the next two goals, the equalizer and the go-ahead score, and then made a play of his own right at the end of the period.
On another breakaway, Leveille had a step on the defense and was able to get off a quality shot. Pearce stretched to make the play, but as traffic came crashing to the net, Pearce, along with the puck, were pushed across the line before the whistle was blown for the goal with :29 seconds left.
Toledo came out in the third with a vengeance, working to regain the momentum. “We just went back to our game plan,” Vitucci said. “We went away from what worked in the start of the previous period.”
The Walleye answered with a pair of very quick goals to tie the contest. With the man-advantage, the offense picked its shot selections carefully, finally finding an opening where JC Sawyer took a shot. The save was made and Scooter Smith found an alley to shovel a shot-turned-pass over to Maxime Tanguay, who collected the puck and shot it into the open net.
Then, trailing by a goal, the Walleye attacked the Charlotte zone again. After a series of shots, a pass from Malcolm MacMillan found Adam Keefe in the middle of the circles. Keefe fired a shot that beat Munce to tie the game only :20 seconds after Tanguay’s score.
The Walleye reclaimed the lead when Akim Aliu struck again for Toledo, scoring his second of the night to put his team ahead with less than four minutes to play in the game. Charlotte, however, would tie the game, forcing the overtime with just :41 seconds left.
The overtime period was just about to wind down and go into the shootout, but Chris Robertson had a breakaway of his own. With :06 seconds left, Robertson stole the puck in the Walleye zone and took it the distance. He fired a perfect wrister from the right side to beat Munce and win the game for the Walleye in the thriller, 6-5.
Season Stories
Historical Tribute: Prior to Saturday night’s contest, former Toledo hockey greats were honored in a pre-game ceremony. After the introductions, championship banners were raised over the Lucas County Arena ice. The six banners raised represented the 1963-64, 1966-67 Toledo Blades and the1974-75, 1977-78, 1981-83 Toledo Goaldiggers championship seasons. Prior to Sunday’s game, the other five banners will be raised. Toledo Hockey Lives On!.
Following the Fish: After the sellout 8,000 on hand at Saturday’s game, Toledo has welcomed 198,051 fans to Lucas County Arena this season and is currently first in overall attendance in the ECHL. This season, the Walleye have seen more fans than any other professional franchise in Toledo hockey history. The record was previously set by the 1977-78 Toledo Goaldiggers.
Photo Credit: Paul Nelson
~Philipp Levering, Toledo Walleye
