Toledo, OH – The Toledo Walleye defeated the Bloomington Bison for the second night in a row by a score of 5-0 at the Huntington Center tonight. Nolan Lalonde stopped all 21 shots he saw tonight, Tanner Kelly scored two goals, Johnny Waldron scored his sixth goal in his fifth game at the Huntington Center, Tanner Palocsik, Conlan Keenan, and Mitch Lewandowski each had two assists on the night, and Brandon Hawkins and Brendon Michaelian each scored. 

How it Happened:

Brendon Michaelian got the scoring started just under three minutes into the first period with his second goal of the season. Johnny Waldron and Conlan Keenan got the assists on the goal that put the Walleye up 1-0. It took five seconds for Toledo to go on the power play after that goal as Chris Ortiz was called for a delay of game penalty. 

Tanner Kelly lit the lamp with a tight shot into the top corner of the net for his 18^th goal of the season, putting Toledo up 2-0 at the 7:47 mark of the first period. Mitch Lewandowski added to his team lead with his 13^th point in the month of February with an assist, and Tanner Palocsik got his second point of the weekend with an assist on the goal.

Johnny Waldron added Toledo’s third goal of the night with his sixth of the season, holding a 3-0 lead over Bloomington early in the second period. Conlan Keenan got an assist on the goal, and Tanner Palocsik got his second assist of the game and third point of the weekend with an assist.

Brandon Hawkins scored his team-leading 25^th goal of the season with a shot that rang off Callum Tung’s mask, putting the Walleye up 4-0. Tanner Dickinson and Will MacKinnon got assists on the goal that ended Tung’s night at the 11:42 mark of the second period. 

Toledo took their first penalty of the night with 18 seconds to go in the second period as Mitch Lewandowski was called for a trip, putting Bloomington on the power play to end the second period. Toledo held a 4-0 lead with 1:42 to go in Bloomington’s power play. 

Michael Robidoux took a hooking penalty 6:49 into the third, giving the Walleye their second power play chance of the night. The Bison killed it off and went on a power play of their own as Tanner Kelly took a slashing penalty 12:44 into the third. Bloomington decided to pull goaltender Hugo Ollas during the power play with six minutes to go in the third for a 6-on-4 advantage. The penalty expired, the net remained empty, and Tanner Kelly took the puck all alone to bury his second goal and Toledo’s fifth goal of the night. Mitch Lewandowski and Nate Roy got the assists on the goal at the 14:49 mark of the third. 

The Walleye held onto the 5-0 win as Nolan Lalonde got his first professional shutout, saving all 21 shots that he saw. Toledo’s power play was a perfect 2-for-2, though their power play was 0-for-2. Toledo finished the game outshooting Bloomington 31-21 on the night. 

Local 245 Three Stars:

1 – G Nolan Lalonde, TOL (SO, 21 SVS)

2 – F Tanner Kelly, TOL (2 G, +2)

3 – F Johnny Waldron, TOL (1 G, 1 A, +2)

What’s Next:

The Walleye will finish off their weekend with a Sunday matchup against the Iowa Heartlanders, the last of nine matchups on the season. They’ll look for their third consecutive win and to improve on their 5-2-0-1 record over the Heartlanders this season. Puck drop set for Tomorrow’s game against Iowa at the Huntington Center is set for 5:15 PM.