CORALVILLE, IA – The Kalamazoo Wings (20-26-4-0) grabbed an early lead but ultimately fell to the Iowa Heartlanders (13-26-10-1) by a final score of 5-2 Friday at Xtream Arena.
The first goal of the game was the first in a K-Wings uniform for Kurt Gosselin (4) as he flipped in a shot that had eyes from the blue line at the 5:28 mark of the first period. Darby Llewellyn (8) and Justin Taylor (16) earned the assists on the opening score, with Taylor (236) moving ahead of Kevin Schamehorn (235) for sole possession of No. 3 on Kalamazoo’s all-time assist leaderboard.
Iowa struck back with a power play goal at the 8:10 mark. The Heartlanders then scored two more goals early in the second at the 1:42 and 2:13 marks, to take a 3-1 lead.
Luke Morgan (5) drew the K-Wings back to within one with a blast from the right circle at the 4:35 mark. On the play, Gosselin (2) gathered a loose puck from the boards near the left circle and sent a cross-ice pass to Morgan for the goal. Goes in the books as Gosselin’s first multi-point game as a K-Wing.
The Heartlanders then made it 4-2 with a goal at the 16:35 mark of the second.
That was all Hunter Vorva (10-8-1-0) would allow and an empty-net goal at the 18:23 mark of the third sealed the victory for the Heartlanders. Vorva finished with 31 saves on 35 shots faced.
Kalamazoo and Iowa will run it back Saturday at Xtream Arena, with puck drop set for 8:05 p.m. EST.
The game will broadcast on a tape delay basis on 590/106.9 WKZO, with anticipated broadcast time approximately 10:30 pm.
THIS REPORT WAS WRITTEN BY CHRIS CADEAU, VOICE OF THE K WINGS
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