TOLEDO, OH – Brett McKenzie scored two goals to help lead the Toledo Walleye to a 5-1 victory over the Wichita thunder on Sunday. It was the fourth straight loss for Wichita, and the fifth straight game where the team allowed five goals. Justin Kapelmaster faced 51 shots in his debut with the Thunder, stopping 46. The Walleye are 11-0-1 in their last 12 games.

Things got off on the right foot when Mark Liwiski scored his 10th goal of the season 3:12 into the contest. Jay Dickman fed the puck to Liwiski, who blew a one-timer by Sebastian Cossa to put Wichita on top by one.

However, it was all Walleye from there. Toledo tied the score at 14:21 when McKenzie netted his seventh goal of the season. With Toledo on the power-play, Brandon Hawkins took a shot that Kapelmaster saved, but McKenzie scooped up the rebound, putting it in to tie the game at one.

With 48 seconds left in the first period, Andrew Sturtz put the Walleye on top. Charlie Curti took a shot from the blueline that Sturtz redirected past the Thunder netminder to make it 2-1.

The Walleye outshot Wichita 20-12 in the first period and continued to pour it on in the second, outshooting the Thunder 21-9. That helped them to extend the lead to two when Sam Craggs netted his fifth goal of the season 2:34 into the frame. Ryan Lowney took a shot that Craggs redirected through the legs of Kapelmaster to make it 3-1.

In the third, Toledo added two more goals. The first came at 11:37 one Conlan Keenan scored his 15th goal of the year. McKenzie netted his second goal of the game when he scored on the power-play at 13:21. That made it 5-1, which was the final.

McKenzie finished with two goals and Hawkins and Lowney had two assists for Toledo. Keenan had a goal and an assist. Cossa stopped 27 shots to earn his fifth straight victory.

The Wichita Thunder (26-23-4) have just one day off before taking on the Kansas City Mavericks (23-21-6) in Independence on Tuesday. The puck drops at 7:05.

Gamesheet

by Robert Pannier