KALAMAZOO, MI – In their final game of the week, tonight, the Greenville Road Warriors visit Wings Stadium to face off against the Kalamazoo Wings. It is the fifth, and final, meeting of the season between the Wings and the Road Warriors.
RECAPPING THE ACTION:
2/11/11 – GRW 4 – TOL 3 (OT)
Last night was a meeting of the two newest teams in the ECHL, the Road Warriors and the Toledo Walleye. Toledo came in as the hottest team in the league with eight wins in its last 10 games, but the Road Warriors cooled them down even after falling behind early. Toledo’s Andy Bombach and Dominic Osman scored 1:49 apart before the first period was five minutes old and put Greenville in a 2-0 hole. Sam Klassen’s second tally as a pro, which came on a delayed penalty call, pulled the Road Warriors within one at 9:36 of the second and then Jimmy Kilpatrick tipped in a power play goal at 10:59 of the second to knot the score at two. Brandon Wong‘s quick strike 44 seconds into the third gave Greenville its first lead of the night, but Evan Rankin scored, and eventually forced overtime, with his 13th goal of the year at 10:51 of the third. In the extra session Shane Harper scored on a breakaway 27 seconds in and lifted Greenville to the win. Nic Riopel was solid in net with 37 saves and earned his 13th win of the season.
2/10/11 – KAL 4 – TRE 1
The Wings snapped a two-game losing skid on Thursday night with a win in Trenton against the last place Devils. Despite a 16-4 disadvantage in shots in the first period, the Wings established a 2-0 lead on goals by Trent Daavettila and Patrick Asselin. Ryan Nie was strong in net for the Wings as he was tested by 36 shots over the course of the game. The only one he let behind him was a penalty shot, awarded while the Devils were shorthanded, to Matthew Lombardi at 18:46 of the second period. That goal set Trenton up for a comeback attempt in the third period, but the Wings picked up a power play goal from Sam Ftorek at 13:58 and an empty net marker at 18:50 from Kory Karlander. The win put Kalamazoo two games over .500 and into sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
WHAT’S ON TAP FOR TONIGHT:
Tonight’s contest is the final one this season between the Road Warriors and the Wings. Greenville skated away with a pair of wins at Wings Stadium on November 25 and 26, but Kalamazoo earned a split in a pair of games at the BI-LO Center on January 15 and 17. The Road Warriors won the most recent matchup between the clubs on Jan. 17 by a 4-3 score thanks to 41 saves by Nic Riopel. Rookie Jacob Lagace also had a big game with three assists on the afternoon. The last game between the clubs at Wings Stadium featured four fights and 118 combined penalty minutes.
The Road Warriors boast one of the largest contingents of rookies in the ECHL with 11 on the active roster. They are also the only team in the league with three players in the top 20 among rookie scoring thanks to Marc-Olivier Vallerand (34 Pts), Brandon Wong (31 Pts.) and Blake Parlett (27 Pts.). Parlett is also the top scoring rookie defenseman in the ECHL and third overall. On the season, rookies have accounted for 61 of the Road Warriors’ 164 goals (37 percent).
– T.J. Reynolds leads the Eastern Conference, and all ECHL defensemen, with 148 penalty minutes.
– Greenville is 9-1-0 against North Division teams this season.
– The Road Warriors have been tied or trailing going into the third period in each of their last six games (3-3-0).
– Greenville is 5-for-22 on the power play (23%) in its last five games.
– The Road Warriors are averaging 6.5 goals per game at Wings Stadium this season (2-0-0).
Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors return home to battle the South Carolina Stingrays on Friday, February 18 at 7:05 p.m. at the BI-LO Center. The Road Warriors are teaming with Rotary Club of Greenville to host their first “Stop Polio Cold” game. The night features the Road Warriors wearing special red and gold jerseys which will be auctioned off live following the game. Proceeds from the jersey auction and that night’s ticket sales will be donated to Rotary’s “End Polio Now” campaign. You can also take advantage of the Friday Family Four Pack which features four tickets, four hot dogs, four pretzels, four bags of chips, and four sodas for just $48! Also, for information on group packages call 864-674-PUCK to speak to a Road Warriors group sales representative.
