KALAMAZOO MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Fans were sent into the new year in style after they witnessed the Kalamazoo Wings (14-10) storm back against the Tulsa Oilers (14-10-0-1) to the tune of three goals in the final three minutes at Wings Event Center on Friday, 4-3.
It was a complete team effort to end the year and the month of December on a winning note.
The New Year’s Eve game was thought to be put on ice when former K-Wing Dylan Sadowy (15,16) netted his second goal in the third period to put the Tulsa Oilers up 3-1 with 5:23 remaining.
But Kalamazoo had different plans.
Wings defenseman Andrew DeBrincat sparked the comeback with his first goal of the season at the 17:04 mark of the third. DeBrincat smacked in a bouncing puck off a juicy rebound created by a left-circle shot off the stick of Erik Bradford.
Wings captain Justin Taylor & Logan Lambdin wasted no time in netting the game tying goal. After the ensuing faceoff, Taylor charged the net with a shot of his own, and Lambdin cleaned up the garbage in front a mere 11 seconds later.
Bradford then put a bow on it, and on 2021, with his third game winning goal of the season via a 2-on-1 breakaway with Taylor just two minutes and twenty three seconds later.
The onslaught was like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode all evening. The K-Wings controlled play for most of the game and outshot Tulsa 45 to 31.
Responding was the theme of this game in the end, and it started in the first period.
The Oilers found the net first on defenseman Wyatt Trumbley (1) break away goal with 2:29 remaining in the first. But, It didn’t take long for Kalamazoo to answer.
Just 29 seconds later, Taylor scored his 10th goal of the season by cleaning up a rebound in front of the net to tie it at one goal apiece. And that’s where the game stayed locked until the third.
“The first goal of the game is the kind of transition that we want to play,” Kalamazoo Wings Head Coach Nick Bootland said. “We were able to comeback and showed that resilience again, a little bit of flair for the dramatic, and those are fun to be a part of.”
Kalamazoo hosts the Tulsa Oilers this Sunday, January 2 at 3:00 p.m. at Wings Event Center.
THIS REPORT WAS WRITTEN ENTIRELY BY CALVIN CHESLER OF THE K WINGS PR STAFF
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