Walleye push past Wheeling to pick up a 5-2 win!
12/12/2012 - (Toledo, OH)-Three third period goals helped push the Toledo Walleye to a 5-2 victory over the Wheeling Nailers on Wednesday night at the Huntington Center. Toledo now stands at 14-10-0-1 on the season and 7-5-0 at home.
Toledo and Wheeling would battle to a 1-1 first period tie, as Wheeling got on the board first at the 8:12 mark on the power play with the goal coming from Luke Pither who got a puck behind Walleye goaltender Kent Simpson.
The Walleye evened the score at 1-1 at 10:09 of the opening period after defenseman Wes O’Neill sent a perfect wrist shot behind Wheeling goaltender Scott Darling. Forward Andrej Nestrasil got the puck to O’Neill at the point after moving around two Nailers’ defenders in the corner, to pick up an assist on the goal. Forward Terry Broadhurst also assisted on the goal.
Wheeling held the advantage in shots over Toledo, 11-9 through one period of play.
Forward Max Campbell started the second period scoring off at the 14:20 mark, with Wheeling in the penalty box for a mouth guard violation. Campbell took a pass from defenseman Ben Youds and fired a shot behind Darling to give the Walleye a 2-1 lead. O’Neill collected his second point of the game, assisting on Campbell’s sixth goal of the year.
The Nailers would tie the game right back up at 2-2 with Pither netting his second goal of the game at 15:08 of the middle period.
Toledo fired six shots at Darling, for a two-period total of 15.
Forward Willie Coetzee brought the Huntington Center to its feet at the 9:52 mark of the third period, lifting a shot into the top left corner of the Wheeling net to make the score 3-2. Forwards Kyle Rogers and Joey Martin assisted on the go ahead goal.
The Walleye added to their lead after Youds made a drop pass to Campbell who placed a shot into the net above Darling to net his second goal of the game.
O’Neill would pick up his second goal of the game after his shot from the point was deflected into the net to give Toledo a 5-2 lead. Forward Randy Rowe assisted on the goal that came at 14:43 of the third period.
Walleye Wrap-Up:
-Toledo goaltender Kent Simpson stopped 30 of 32 shots on goal and is 6-6-0-1 on the season.
-Forward Andrej Nestrasil has extended his point and assist streak to six games tonight.
-Forward Willie Coetzee picked up a goal in tonight’s game, extending his goal scoring streak to three games.
-The Walleye also extended their home winning streak to three games tonight.
-Toledo is 4-0-0-1 against the Nailers this season.
-Toledo returns home on Saturday, December 15 to take on the Evansville IceMen. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. Come on down to the Huntington Center to meet Santa! For ticket information, fans can call 419-725-9255, visit the Huntington Center box office or log on the www.toledowalleye.com.
Game Story By: Samantha Hoot
