Toledo, OH – The Toledo Walleye took down the Wichita Thunder by a score of 5-1 this evening at the Huntington Center, recording a franchise-record 58 shots on goal in the process. Brandon Kruse recorded Toledo’s second four-point game of the season (the first since Brandon Hawkins’ four-goal game on 12/20/25). Ryland Mosley scored two goals tonight, his first professional multi-goal game. Sam Craggs had two assists on the night, Tanner Kelly scored his sixth goal in five games, and Nolan Lalonde stopped 19 of the 20 shots he saw on the night.
How it Happened:
Ryland Mosley got the Walleye on the board first with a snipe from the faceoff dot, his third goal of the season with Toledo, putting them up 1-0 5:37 into the first period. Sam Craggs and Brandon Kruse got credit for the assists on Mosley’s goal. That was all the scoring that came out of the first period, as Toledo outshot Wichita 19-6.
Toledo took the game’s first penalty just 11 seconds into the second period, with a hooking minor taken by Tanner Dickinson. Toledo killed off the penalty to start off strong on special teams.
Ryland Mosley scored his second goal of the night on a delayed penalty, his first multi-goal game as a professional and his 4th goal of the season. Assists on the goal at the 4:15 mark of the second that put Toledo up 2-0 came from Brandon Kruse and Colin Swoyer.
Tanner Dickinson came back and scored 1:05 later, his 17th goal of the season to put Toledo up by three. Kruse got his third assist on the night, his 100th point wearing a Walleye uniform, along with Brandon Hawkins, who stands six points from tying Shane Berschbach for the all-time Walleye points lead.
Wichita got on the board 14:29 into the second period with a goal from Nolan Kneen, his second of the season to cut Toledo’s lead to two. Colin Swoyer took a holding penalty at the 16:44 mark of the second, putting Wichita on their second power play of the day.
Toledo killed it off and went on their first power play of the day as Nick Nardecchia took a cross-checking call with five seconds to go in the second. The Walleye would bring a 3-1 lead into the third, outshooting Wichita 43-15, with 1:55 of the power play remaining. Toledo’s 24 shots in the second period was a season-high for them, and fell two short of the all-time high for shots on goal in a period (26 – 3/11/2011 vs. Reading)
Toledo didn’t convert on the power-play opportunity, but Brandon Kruse recorded his fourth point of the night with his first goal of the season, putting Toledo up 4-1 3:57 into the third period. Sam Craggs got the lone assist on the goal, his second assist of the night. Tanner Kelly scored less than a minute later, recording a goal in his fifth straight game and his 22nd of the season to put Toledo up 5-1. Denis Smirnov and Tanner Palocsik got the assists on the goal at the 4:39 mark of the third period.
Declan Smith and Riley McCourt each received offsetting two-minute minor penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct at the 11:33 mark of the third, leading to two minutes of 4-on-4 hockey. Neither team scored with a man in the box and the game remained 5-1 in favor of Toledo. The teams went back to 4-on-4 55 seconds later as Brandon Kruse was called for a trip and Nolan Kneen was called for embellishment.
Michal Stínil was awarded a penalty shot with 1:17 to go in regulation as a result of a hooking penalty by Brendon Michaelian, but Nolan Lalonde stopped the attempt. The 5-1 score held final as Toledo set their franchise record in shots with 58, outshooting Wichita’s 20 shots on goal. Neither team scored on special teams as Toledo’s penalty kill was 2-for-2.
Local 245 Three Stars:
1 – F Brandon Kruse, TOL (1 G, 3 A)
2 – F Ryland Mosley, TOL (2 G)
3 – F Sam Craggs, TOL (2 A)