Despite giving up three early goals, the Toledo Walleye were victorious tonight, defeating the Trenton Devils 6-5 in overtime. The win breaks Toledo's three-game losing streak and gives them a bit of momentum for the remainder of the weekend series at the Lucas County Arena.
It took less than three minutes for the Devils to put the Walleye at a two-goal deficit tonight, beating goaltender Thomas McCollum on two of their first three shots of the game. Matt Voakes notched the first goal at 2:14, taking advantage of a gap in Toledo's defensive coverage.
A double minor to Bryan Ewing for high sticking followed, with Trenton's Slavomir Tomko notching his fifth of the season to give the Devils the 2-0 lead just 34 seconds later.
McCollum's night didn't get any better near the midpoint of the period as he allowed his third goal in five shots. The goal was a beauty however as Trenton's Jack Combs did a 180 in front of the net to beat McCollum on the near side. Down three goals, the Walleye made a goaltending change, replacing McCollum with Alec Richards, who just returned from the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL.
The Walleye failed to go quietly, with Bryan Ewing redeeming himself by capitalizing on a short-handed breakaway for his sixth goal of the year at 12:55 into the contest.
A second beautiful goal followed, lifting the spirits of the 5,715 fans in attendance. JC Sawyer sent a shot from the blue line which was deflected in front of the net to beat Trenton netminder Gerald Coleman.
With just about 90 seconds left in the period, Toledo's Luis Tremblay took out some frustrations on Trenton's Jack Combs just between the benches on the far side of the ice. Both men went to the locker rooms early, but the scrum gave the Devils a power play as Toledo's Scooter Smith was called for roughing.
Trenton took advantage of the opportunity with Trevor Kell shooting the puck just over the left shoulder of Alec Richards.
The second period began similarly to how the first ended with Adam Hobson dropping the gloves with Justin Coutu. This time Toledo received the man advantage, with Sebastien Piche netting a beautiful power play goal to make the score 4-3.
The Walleye carried their momentum into the third period, not only tying the game at four with Piche setting up Derek Nesbitt for the equalizer, but also taking the lead as Toledo's top line of Evan Rankin and Maxime Tanguay set up Adam Hobson for his 13th of the year.
The go-ahead goal got the crowd rocking, with the very loud fans behind the Trenton net frequently chanting taunts towards Gerald Coleman. They however were silenced when Trenton tied the game at five with under seven minutes to play. Jack Combs notched his second of the evening, hitting the top shelf with Alec Richards down on the ice in the butterfly formation.
Each team pressured hard in the final moments to net the game winner, with Trenton taking a last-minute time out to set up a play. Neither was successful however, but Trenton did manage to take an interference penalty with 18.9 seconds left in regulation.
Toledo used the power play wisely as a beautifully set up play allowed Mark Nebus to score the game winner at 1:18 into the extra stanza. Derek Nesbitt and JC Sawyer were credited with the helpers.
The Walleye will have a second opportunity to face to Devils tonight as they host the team again at the Lucas County Arena. Home action continues Sunday as the Charlotte Checkers will be in the building for an afternoon game.
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