KALAMAZOO — After surrendering two goals on the first two shots in Game 3 of the Central Division semifinals, Walleye goaltender John Lethemon came to the bench with a message.
After taking ownership, the goalie's Toledo teammates responded with six unanswered goals to post an emphatic 6-2 win over the Kalamazoo Wings on Wednesday night.
“During the first media timeout, he came over to the bench and said, “That's on me. I'll do better,'” Walleye coach Pat Mikesch said.
“The whole bench knew he was gonna be better. There's no hesitation there, and that's why he's won so many games for us. The response was big.”
K-Zoo scored on its first two shots, but the Walleye quickly got three unanswered goals from Sam Craggs, Grant Gabriele, and Jacob Graves to take a 3-2 lead after one period.
After giving up the first two goals, Lethemon locked in and found a rhythm. He stopped the next 29 shots in a row for the Walleye, who have won 17 straight games.
“I hold myself to the highest standard,” Lethemon said. “I wanted to let those guys know those two were on me. You want to be able to make a save on those, but credit to our guys for the response.”
The Walleye have taken a 3-0 lead in the ECHL first-round series, and could sweep the K-Wings with a win in Game 4 here on Friday.
The teams combined for four goals before the crowd of 2,423 — including a huge throng of Walleye fans — at Wings Event Center could settle into their seats. The four goals came on the first seven shots in the wild start as it was tied at 2 just 6:48 into the game.
“The rest of the period we were sharp,” Mikesch said. “We wanted to establish our game.
“We're starting to find some things that we're having success with against that group.”
Riley Sawchuk and Brandon Hawkins had second-period goals for an insurmountable 5-2 lead. The Toledo offense, which has 14 goals in the first three games, caught fire with crisp passing that led to a bevy of scoring chances.
‘It's almost been a trend right now that we're having a bit of a slow start,” Sawchuk said. “But, collectively, we always buy into our systems and pull ourselves back out of the rut.
“We focus hard on execution. When passes are being executed every play, that's what hockey is all about.”
Trenton Bliss had an empty-net goal with 2:41 left in regulation.
Kalamazoo scored on its first shot of the game as Quinn Preston, a former Walleye forward, beat Lethemon over his shoulder. The Wings went up 1-0 just 4:56 into the game.
Jordan Seyfert quickly made it 2-0 at 5:22 of the first period.
Toledo answered instantly after the second goal as Craggs picked up where he left off with a hat trick in Toledo's 5-2 win in Game 2 on Saturday night in Toledo.
The Walleye tied it moments later as Gabriele scored, and then Graves put them up 3-2.
Craggs got in all alone on Kalamazoo goalie Hunter Vorva (30 saves on 35 shots) and roofed a shot to pull Toledo back within one 5:35 into the game.
Just 1:13 later, Gabriele showed good patience and beat Vorva to knot the game at 2. Graves popped in a rebound to put Toledo up 3-2 with 4:02 left in the first.
The Walleye then seized a 4-2 lead on a power-play goal from Sawchuk at 5:28 of the second period. It was Sawchuk's third goal of the series.
Hawkins, who scored the game-winner in Toledo's 3-2 overtime in Game 1 last Friday, scored with an absolute missile of a shot for a 5-2 cushion near the game's midpoint.
“When things aren't going our way, we're going to bear down and find it,” Hawkins said.
Riley McCourt, Brandon Kruse, Mitchell Lewandowski, and Michael Prapavessis each had two assists.
“We did a good job of weathering the storm,” McCourt said. “We were a little shaky the first 10 minutes but, after that, I thought we got settled in great. We've got to come out stronger [Friday].”
Sawchuk, Hawkins, and Bliss each had a goal and an assist.
The teams meet again on Friday at Wings Event Center for Game 4 with puck drop set for 7 p.m. Game 5 will be held in Toledo on Saturday at the Huntington Center, if necessary.
“We want to continue playing the way we've been playing,” Mikesch said. “There's no reason to change what's been working.
“But the hardest thing to do is to end a team's season.”
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