Toledo, OH – The Toledo Walleye defeated the Bloomington Bison at the Huntington Center tonight by a score of 4-3, capping off the weekend with a win. Dylan Moulton scored the game-winner, a short-handed goal with 24 seconds left in regulation. Brandon Hawkins tied Shane Berschbach’s franchise scoring record at 393 with two goals, both on the power play. Carson Bantle scored, Riley McCourt and Alexandre Doucet each had two assists on the power play, and Sam Craggs had two assists. 

How it Happened:

The Walleye went on the penalty kill first as a result of a Riley McCourt tripping minor at the 2:07 mark of the first period. They killed off that penalty, but took another penalty in the form of a Nate Roy tripping minor at the 14:29 mark of the first. The kill ended early, as Riku Ishida took a holding minor with 42 seconds to go in Roy’s penalty, setting up Toledo’s first power play chance when Roy left the box. 

Bloomington shot the puck out of play, leading to a 5-on-3 advantage with 30 seconds left on Ishida’s penalty and putting Zach Faremouth in the box for two minutes. It took Brandon Hawkins five seconds to get the puck off the faceoff and put it in the back of the net, scoring his 29^th goal of the season. Riley McCourt and Alexandre Doucet got the assists on the goal at the 17:22 mark of the first period.

Bloomington picked up a turnover at the blue line, and Sullivan Mack buried a short-handed goal for the Bison to tie the game up at one goal each, just over a minute after Toledo’s goal. The 1-1 tie was held until the end of the first period, with Bloomington outshooting Toledo 13-4 when the horn sounded. 

Toledo got another chance at the power play as Parker Gavlas batted a puck in the air out of play, earning a delay of game call after some deliberation at the 2:47 mark of the second period. Brandon Hawkins scored on the power play again, his second such goal of the night, tying Shane Berschbach’s franchise scoring record of 393 Walleye points. Assists on the goal at the 3:31 mark of the second went to Alexandre Doucet and Riley McCourt, the second of the night for both.

A scrum followed after Hawkins’ goal, and Brendan Datema took the butt-end of his stick to Riley McCourt, resulting in a match penalty for him. He got an additional slashing penalty, offset by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by Tanner Kelly, resulting in a five-minute major power-play for the Walleye. 

Carson Bantle scored on that power play, his first goal as a Walleye this season with 3:41 remaining on the major power-play. Sam Craggs and Mitch Lewandowski got the assists on the goal to put the Walleye up 3-1. 

Colin Swoyer took a holding minor, putting Bloomington on their third power play of the day 13:32 into the second period. The Walleye killed that off, but Kyle Jackson brought the Bison back within one with a goal at the 19:22 mark of the second, making it a 3-2 hockey game as the period came to a close. 

Will MacKinnon dropped the gloves for the fourth time this season, this time against Ayden MacDonald. Both earned the five-minute major for fighting at the 8:40 mark of the third period. 

Deni Goure scored for the Bison off a rebound at the 13:08 mark of the third, tying the game at three goals each. Shane Ott took a tripping minor with 2:50 to go in regulation, setting the Walleye up for a critical power play. They didn’t score on the opportunity, and went to the penalty kill 10 seconds later on a too many men minor with just 39 seconds remaining in regulation.

Dylan Moulton scored a short-handed goal with 24 seconds to go, his third of the year in one of the bigger moments of the season. Sam Craggs got the assist on the goal, which put the Walleye up 4-3 in the final seconds. Toledo’s power play went 3-for-6, penalty kill was a perfect 3-for-3, each team scored a short-handed goal, and Toledo was outshot by Bloomington 38-31.

Local 245 Three Stars:

1 – D Dylan Moulton, TOL (GW SHG)

2 – F Brandon Hawkins, TOL (2 G)

3 – F Sullivan Mack, BLM (1 G, 1 A)

What’s Next:

The Toledo Walleye will play on Wednesday in Indy for a weekday matchup against the Fuel, rescheduled from its original late December date. The Walleye have a 3-0-2 record over the Fuel this season, looking to gain space in the standings over the potential first-round opponent. Puck drop for the Wednesday game at Fishers Event Center is set for 7:00 PM.