Trenton Bliss scored two third-period goals as the Fish rolled to victory on Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
The Toledo Walleye came into Friday’s matchup against the Orlando Solar Bears tied for fourth in the ECHL with 3.55 goals per game. That average did not suffer after the Fish came away with a 5-2 vanquishing of Orlando on Hockey Fights Cancer Night at the Huntington Center.
Trenton Bliss scored two goals for the Walleye, who improve to 10-3-1 on the season. The Solar Bears fall to 5-9-1 with the loss.
Casey Dornbach put the Walleye on the board first with his first goal as a member of the team at 11:08 of the first period. Colin Swoyer and Brandon Kruse got the assists. The goal came on a power-play and gave Dornbach the 50th point of his professional career.
The Solar Bears came back with a power-play tally of their own to tie the score 1-1 at the 15:07 mark, with Jaydon Dureau notching the goal.
Orlando had a golden opportunity to take the lead after a 5-on-3 advantage, but the Fish managed to kill off the penalty to keep the game deadlocked as the two teams headed to the first intermission.
The second period saw Toledo grab a two-goal lead. At 5:08, Griffin Ness scored his third goal in three games on a wrap-around the net and into the corner for a 2-1 advantage. Grant Gabriele and Dornbach picked up helpers.
At 11:54 of the middle frame, Tyler Spezia stretched his club’s lead to 3-1, with Gabriele getting his second assist of the night along with Brandon Hawkins.
Bliss wasn’t about to miss out on the fun. He made the third period his own by scoring back-to-back goals within 1:28 of each other for a comfortable 5-1 lead for Toledo. The Solar Bears added a late goal, making the final 5-2.
Game 2 of the three-game series between the two teams will take place on Saturday at the Huntington Center. Puck drop is set for 7:15 Pm ET.