Walleye lose in front of record morning-game crowd

The Walleye entered the game with the top power-play unit in the league.

By Mark Monroe / The Blade /
Wed, 04 Dec 2019 17:29:49 GMT

Judging from the energy of an enthusiastic crowd of 7,731 filled mostly with school kids at the Huntington Center on Wednesday morning, the Toledo Walleye's initiative for introducing youngsters to the game of hockey has been effective.

The organization's School Education Day games are aimed at fostering a love for hockey to those who may have never been exposed to the game. The kids on the field trip to the downtown arena may have been disappointed in the Walleye's 3-2 loss to Adirondack, but it was the largest crowd for the special morning game event in franchise history.

“Anything we can do to educate people about the game of hockey is awesome,” Walleye coach Watson said. “It was a great morning for these kids. I'm sure they enjoyed being off school. Hopefully we can get some of these kids that really enjoyed today to want to try to play hockey or to come back for another game. We're just trying to get to as many people as we can.”

Top Detroit Red Wings goaltending prospect Filip Larsson made his debut with the Walleye. He made 17 stops on 20 shots.

Toledo's Troy Loggins scored in the first period and Charle-Eduouard D'Astous scored with 3:11 left in regulation, but the Walleye saw its two-game winning streak snapped.

“It's great to have the kids in here,” Loggins said. “It was a lot of fun. It's always good to get the game out to kids who haven't seen it before.”

Thunder goalie Eamon McAdam was the difference in the game with 28 saves on 30 shots.

D'Astous scored with 3:11 left in regulation as his rebound goal trickled past McAdam to make it a one-goal game to pump the school kids up even further. But McAdam then made a great glove save on Blake Hillman with 1:35 left, and Larsson was pulled for an extra attacker to protect the one-goal cushion.

The volume of the crowd reached ear-piercing levels at times. Loggins, who is from California, said he fell in love with the sport when he saw a roller hockey game live when he was 4.

“After that I got I really got into it. We're just trying to introduce it everyone,” he said. “It was pretty loud in there and sometimes it was a little hard to hear each other on the ice so you have to have your head up.”

It was the second and final morning game this season.

The Walleye, who have undergone roster turnover in recent days, had two goalies Tuesday that were not with Toledo the last time the team played here Nov. 23. Rookies Larsson and Billy Christopoulos were Toledo's netminders.

Larsson, a 21-year-old who led the University of Denver to the NCAA Frozen Four as a freshman last season, is in his first season with the Red Wings organization. Larsson, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, was selected in the sixth round of the 2016 NHL draft (167th overall) by Detroit.

Larsson posted a 13-6-3 record with a 1.95 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in his lone college season. However, Larsson had a 2-5-0 record with a 4.01 goals-against average and .843 save percentage in seven games for the Griffins.

Watson said Larsson was good.

“We'll get him going down here. He's going to play a lot of games down here,” Watson said. “He'll find that rhythm. He is a good goaltender if you look at his history. He will win us some games here.”

Down 1-0 early, the Walleye get on the board as Loggins scored a power-play goal with 7:06 left in the opening period.

Adirondack scored 8:28 into the first period when Matt Salhany beat Larsson up high.

Loggins said his team just needs to manage pucks better early in games.

“That's what we did in the third period and we had some success there,” Loggins said. “Their goalie got them the win.”

McAdam, who was solid all game, came up with a fine, snap glove save on Toledo forward Brett Boeing with 8:28 left in the first period.

Adirondack scored its second goal of the first period on a bang-bang play right in front of Larsson. Mike Szmalula beat Larsson to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead with 3:14 left in the opening stanza.

Adirondack grabbed a 3-1 lead when defenseman Charlie Curti scored on a long shot near the midpoint of the second period.

Watson said he didn't like his team's first two periods.

“I thought we were sloppy and we turned pucks over and they capitalized,” Watson said. “They were more urgent and desperate. But I liked our third period. If we play 60 complete minutes like that, I would have liked the outcome.”

Toledo finished with 30-20 edge in shots. It was the first and only meeting between the teams this season.

Each school that attended the game received hockey based classroom curriculum. Representatives from the Imagination Station also held interactive science experiments during the intermissions.

“You have to see hockey live to really appreciate it,” Watson said. “To feel the atmosphere and intensity in the building, it's a whole new feeling.”

It was the first of three games in four days for the Walleye at the Huntington Center. Toledo hosts Brampton on Friday and Cincinnati on Saturday.

FISH TALES: Red Wings assistant general manager Ryan Martin and director of player evaluation Jiri Fischer were both in attendance to scout Filip Larsson, among others on the Walleye roster.

■ Toledo's No. 1 goaltender, Pat Nagle, has been called up to Grand Rapids. Nagle is 0-1 in two appearances with the Griffins with a 1.40 goals-against average and .943 save percentage.

■ The Walleye had gone five consecutive periods without taking a penalty, before they took two in the third period.

■ Toledo (11-7-1) had played 13 of their first 18 games on the road.

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