Monkeys With Typewriters

Toledo Walleye players salute the fans after their sixth-straight win

Photo by Angie Marie

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Christmas is coming early for the Toledo Walleye as they notched their sixth-straight victory tonight, defeating the Johnstown Chiefs at the Lucas County Arena 5-2.  The win moves the team closer to that first-place position in the American North Division, just behind the Kalamazoo Wings.

A quick slashing call to Mike Bartlett of the Chiefs gave the Walleye a power-play opportunity just 38 seconds into the match. Toledo sent out their top line of Evan Rankin, Maxime Tanguay and Adam Hobson in an attempt to get an early score. The move paid off as Rankin took a beautiful pass from Hobson to hit the far side of the net.

Play was stopped moments later as Sebastien Piche took a bad hit and was sent to the ice surface in pain. Walleye athletic trainer Brad Fredrick helped Piche to the bench while the on-ice officials cleaned up the blood.  Piche was sent to the hospital as a precaution with a broken nose and is expected to be just fine.

As play resumed, the Rankin-Tanguay-Hobson line struck again with Tanguay sending the puck up to Rankin who spun around to net his second of the evening.

Just moments after the goal, Brock Wilson and Sean Berkstresser renewed acquaintances with a quick fight in the Walleye zone. The pair, who also dropped the gloves just 90 seconds in to last night’s match-up, have a history of fighting one another, with scrums dating back to October 2008.

While the first period was not yet over, the Walleye continued their dominance, going up 3-0 with just over three minutes left in the session. Chris Robertson connected with JC Sawyer on a four-on-four situation for the score.

Johnstown woke up for the second period, scoring two unanswered goals to bring the game within just one score. The first goal, which came on the power play, was quite a sight as Chris Zarb appeared to take the puck behind the net of Walleye goaltender Alec Richards, but changed direction at the last minute to sneak it in.