Records:Â Â Evansville: 18-22-4-1; Kalamazoo: 19-22-4-1
Goalies:  KAL – Martin (L), 19-17-4-1, 29 saves
              EVN – Bengtsberg (W), 6-9-2-1, 25 saves
Scoring:
1st Period: 1. EVN – Harrison 1 (Zay, Rumble, 16:24); 2. EVN – Sims 9 (Himelson, Moon, 19:45)
2nd Period: 3. EVN – Sims 10 (Moon, Rutkowski, 5:15); 4. KAL – Blomstrand 15 (Shattock, Taylor, 12:54); 5. EVN – Dunn 10 (Leonard, Zay, 13:24)
3rd Period: 6. KAL – Shattock 8 (Ponich, Taylor, :58); 7. KAL – Gilbert 11 (Blomstrand, 14:29)
EVANSVILLE, IN – The Evansville IceMen opened up a big lead Friday, and held off a third period rally to edge the Kalamazoo Wings 4-3. The win gives the organization its first three-game winning streak since January 14-20, 2014.
Evansville dominated the first period, as the IceMen outshot the Wings 16-3. In his third game with the IceMen, rookie Andrew Harrison scored his first ECHL goal on a breakaway with 3:36 left in the frame. The IceMen made it 2-0 with 15 seconds left in the period, when Jordan Sims tipped a centering pass from Andrew Himelson past Kalamazoo goaltender Joel Martin.
Sims scored his second of the game 5:15 into the second period from the left circle to give the IceMen the 3-0 lead. It was the rookie forward’s first career two-goal game. Kalamazoo found the scoreboard, when Tyler Shattock feathered a pass to Ludwig Blomstrand, who was cutting to the net. Blomstrand lifted the shot past IceMen goalie Christoffer Bengtsberg at 12:54.
30 seconds after the Wings’ goal, Vincent Dunn deflected a shot from Curtis Leonard into the net past Martin to put the IceMen back up by three goals heading into the third period.
Former IceMen forward Tyler Shattock scored 58 seconds into the third to cut Evansville’s lead in half. Shattock tipped a shot from Brett Ponich through the legs of Bengtsberg. The Wings made it interesting late, when David Gilbert snuck a backhander over Bengtsberg’s glove from a sharp angle to make it 4-3. Evansville’s penalty kill came up big for a fourth time late in the game to help preserve the win.
Bengtsberg made 25 saves in the win, while Martin stopped 29 in the loss. With the victory, Evansville wins the season series with Kalamazoo 2-1.
The IceMen travel to Cincinnati Saturday for a 7:35pm EST face-off against the Cyclones. Coverage starts at 6:20 CST onwww.evansvilleicemen.com and ECHL TV. The game will also be shown at Bar Louie in Evansville, the official headquarters for IceMen away games. Evansville then wraps up the weekend on Valentine’s Day Sunday, when the Cyclones come to the Ford Center at 6:15pm.
