Bloomington, IL – The Toledo Walleye took tonight’s game against the Bloomington Bison at Grossinger Motors Arena by a score of 6-2, fueled by a hat trick from Brandon Hawkins. Tanner Dickinson and Bobby Russell each finished the night with two points, Nick Andrews and Nolan Moyle each extended their point streaks to three games, and Nolan Lalonde stopped 33 of 35 shots in his professional debut. 

How it Happened:

In addition to Lalonde making his professional debut tonight, forward Tanner Edwards also skated in his first professional game. Brandon Hawkins opened up the scoring early in the first, netting his first goal of the season at 6:55 off a rebound. Bobby Russell got the lone assist on the goal.

Sam Craggs and Bloomington’s Brenden Datema each took coincidental roughing minors at 17:09, setting up two minutes of 4-on-4 hockey. Toledo took another tripping call soon after, resulting in a Bloomington power play. Bloomington outshot Toledo 15-8 in the first, however Toledo led where it matters. 

Bloomington’s power play continued into the second period, where Toledo killed it off successfully. Brandon Hawkins got his second goal on the night via penalty shot at 12:02, Toledo’s second such opportunity of the season to extend their lead to 2-0. Toledo went on a power play a little under three minutes later but was unsuccessful. 

Toledo got another shot at a power play at 17:44 but again could not convert. Toledo regained ground in shot count by the end of the second, recording 15 shots on goal to Bloomington’s 8 and holding a 2-0 lead at the end of the second period. 

Tanner Dickinson added a third goal unassisted for the Walleye 3:34 into the third period, his first of the season, picking the puck up off a rebound off the pads of Nolan Lalonde on the other end of the ice. Brandon Hawkins nailed down the hat trick with his third goal of the night at 9:23, with assists from Riley McCourt and Nick Andrews.

Bloomington notched a goal on the power-play to get on the board and end Lalonde’s shutout opportunity just over a minute after Hawkins’s goal. They followed up with a second three minutes later to make it an interesting 4-2 game. To add to the drama, Toledo took a penalty with 3:58 remaining in the third. 

However, Toledo scored their league-leading third short-handed goal on the season, scored by Nolan Moyle (his third of the season) with help from Will Hillman. Moyle, Andrews, and Hawkins have each recorded points in all three games of the Walleye season thus far. Chad Hillebrand drove the final nail in the coffin with an empty net goal, his second of the night, with 35 seconds to go. Bobby Russell and Tanner Dickinson each earned assists.

A few fights broke out with 15 seconds remaining, resulting in copious amounts of penalty minutes (three fighting majors and two roughing minors) and a Toledo power play. The penalty kill finished 2-for-3, earning back the goal they allowed. Bloomington finished the game with one more shot over Toledo, leading them 35-34 despite Toledo winning the game 6-2.

Three Stars:

1 – F Brandon Hawkins, TOL (3 G)

2 – G Nolan Lalonde, TOL (33 SV, .943 SV%)

3 – F Chongmin Lee, BLM (1 G)

What’s Next: 

The Walleye will face the Indy Fuel for a second time this season in the Home Opener at Huntington Center on November 1st. Toledo has already seen Indy once this year in their season-opener, defeating them 4-1 at Fishers Event Center on October 18th. Puck drop for next week’s contest is set for 7:15 PM Eastern Time.