The Week Ahead:
Friday @ Toledo Walleye 7:15pm
Saturday @ Toledo Walleye 7:15pm
Wednesday @ Indy Fuel 7:05pm
Thursday @ Fort Wayne Komets 7:30pm
Last Week:
The Wings went 1-2 last week, finally scoring some goals and ending their losing streak.
Preview:
While they don’t have any early start times this week, it will be a long week on the road for Kalamazoo. The weekend starts in Toledo where Wings will face the highest scoring team in the Western Conference two nights in a row, Friday and Saturday. The Walleye are led by the ECHL’s version of the Sedin twins – Tylor and Tyson Spink. The brothers, who played together collegiality at Colgate, have combined for 10 goals and 27 points.
After the Friday/Saturday doubleheader the Wings head to Indianapolis for their first meeting with the Indy Fuel. The Fuel are currently last in the Central having only won 4 of the 11 games they’ve played this season. It could be worse if not for the play of goaltender Jake Hildebrand. The former Big Ten Player of the Year was just named the CCM/ECHL Goaltender of the Week after going 2-0 with a shutout and a 0.96 GAA.
The Wings end their road trip in Fort Wayne on Thanksgiving. The Komets currently sit 3 points ahead of Kalamazoo in the standings. Former Lightning organizational goaltender Pat Nagle won’t be facing them as he continues to recover from a high ankle sprain.
Stat that catches your eye:
Anthony Camara has a shooting percentage of 42.9%. That probably is not sustainable throughout the year, but it has led to 3 goals in 6 games for the newest Wing.
Who’s Hot:
Nick Riopel. If you remove the 8 goal debacle against Wheeling, Riopel’s numbers are really, really good. In his other 5 appearances he has only allowed 5 goals total and has a .961 save percentage. While Joel Martin hasn’t been bad either (.930 save percentage) Riopel might start to see the bulk of the playing time moving forward.
Both will probably play this weekend, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Riopel starts two of the three games in a row they have coming up at the end of next week. Riopel is showing that he has the talent to move up to Syracuse should the need arise, which is reassuring given that he’s the fifth in the organization.
Team Leaders:
Goals: 4 – Charlie Vasaturo
Points: 9 – Justin Taylor and Dajon Mingo
Wins: 3 – Joel Martin and Nick Riopel
GAA: – 2.18 Nick Riopel
