Taylor Burden had two goals and one assist to lead the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings to a 5-2 victory over the Janesville Jets.
Burden scored on the power play at 9:03 into the second period to make the score 2-0 Kalamazoo and again while on the power play 12:36 into the second to make the score 3-0 Kalamazoo.
Janesville’s 13 penalties came back to haunt it, as the Jets let up four goals while on the penalty kill.
Kalamazoo racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with 11 minors and one major for 37 minutes in penalty time. The Jr. K-Wings had been averaging 18.0 minutes in penalties per game. Team’s forwards weren’t the only contributers offensively, and the team’s defensemen showcased their scoring touch with two goals. By firing 51 shots on goal, Kalamazoo exceeded the 31.6 shots it averages per game this year.
Kalamazoo also got points from Sam Johnson, who also registered one goal and one assist and Robbie Payne, who also grabbed one goal and two assists. Kalamazoo also got a goal from Mark Esshaki as well. Other players who recorded assists for Kalamazoo were Kyle Gattelaro, who had three.
Janesville was often in penalty trouble, totaling 12 minors and one major for 39 minutes in penalty time. The Jets surpassed its season average of 22.0 penalty minutes per game. The 24 shots that Janesville put on net surpassed the Jets’ average of 21.7 shots per game this season.
Janesville was led by Ryan Dau, who finished with one goal. Dau scored on the power play 7:15 into the third period to make the score 4-2 Kalamazoo. The Jets earned a power play opportunity when Matt Wurst was put in the box for slashing. Pedlan Ruslan assisted on the tally. Jason Ford also scored for Janesville. More assists for Janesville came via Kucerovy, who had one.
Marcus Due-Boje made 22 saves for the Jr. K-Wings on 24 shots. For Kalamazoo, Brendan Vetter was ejected from the game. Austin Priebe rejected 46 shots on goal for Janesville. The Jets registered two goals on eight power play opportunities.
