Facing adversity for the first time in the Kelly Cup playoffs, the Toledo Walleye's veteran leaders stepped up Sunday to help them tie their second-round series with Fort Wayne at one game apiece with a 2-1 victory in Game 2 of the Central Division final series before a crowd of 6,606 at the Huntington Center.

Shane Berschbach, the Walleye's all-time points leader, scored his first goal of the playoffs and had an assist on the game-winning goal by fellow veteran forward A.J. Jenks, who had his fourth of the postseason and third of the series.

Berschbach scored near the game's midpoint. The assistant captain posted his first points of the postseason Saturday with an assist in a 5-3 loss in Game 1.

PHOTO GALLERY: Walleye 2, Komets 1

VIDEO: Toledo evens ECHL Central Division finals

But Jenks, who scored twice in Game 1, lifted a backhander past Fort Wayne goalie Michael Houser for the decisive goal on Toledo's first shot of the third period.

“The guys that have been here and in this rivalry with Fort Wayne needed to step up and lead the way,” Berschbach said. “We definitely talked about it before the game. But everyone did their jobs. We kept it simple and got the job done.”

Walleye goaltender Pat Nagle earned his fifth win of the postseason, finishing with 28 saves.

Fort Wayne forward Gabriel Desjardins, the Komets' leading scorer in the postseason, ruined Nagle's shutout bid when he scored a power-play goal on a one-timer with 9 minutes, 39 seconds left in regulation.

The series now shifts to Fort Wayne for Games 3 and 4. The Komets host Toledo at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, then at 8 p.m. Friday at Memorial Coliseum.

Berschbach, who has scored 267 points in his Walleye career, had just one assist in five playoff games entering this one.

“It's good. You always want to be involved,” Berschbach said. “My game is to produce, and I need to do that in order for our team to be successful. But it was an all-around great team effort.”

Berschbach and Jenks combined for 15 of Toledo's 31 shots.

“Those guys lead by example,” Walleye coach Dan Watson said. “They lead the way every day, especially against a rival like Fort Wayne. They really need to show what it's going to take and how hard it's going to be and I thought they did that tonight.”

Berschbach finished with a game-high eight shots. Jenks had seven.

“It was a whole team effort,” Jenks said. “Everyone stepped up. Everyone was going hard and playing their roles and chipped in.”

Forward Charlie O'Connor, who was playing in his second game this postseason, had the assist on Berschbach's goal. O'Connor made a quick pass from behind the net out front to Berschbach who shoveled it in with 13:11 to go in the second.

The Komets outshot the Walleye 36-15 on Saturday. Toledo finished with a 31-29 edge in Game 2.

Jenks said the team had better execution and didn't turn the puck over.

“We gave them too much easy offense [on Saturday]. Tonight, we were a lot more mindful of that,” Jenks said. “We definitely didn't want to go to their building down 0-2. We worked all year to get home ice, so for us it was about getting back into the series and starting fresh on Wednesday.”

When Fort Wayne coach Gary Graham was asked if his team was satisfied with getting a split on the road to start the series, he responded: “No we wanted two.”

“It's definitely going to be a fun chess match,” Graham said. “I thought they had a lot more jump than us. Our pace was non-existent. They did a better job of breaking out of their end and they came at us with more speed tonight.”

Watson said his team's work ethic and willingness to battle was better than in the opener.

“Obviously [on Saturday night], we were very flat,” Watson said. “We just couldn't get our legs going. We refocused and our guys came out ready to play. Tonight, we had the ability to skate for 60 minutes. We had better energy.”

The franchises now have played 14 times in the playoffs, with the Walleye holding a 9-5 advantage. Toledo defeated the Komets 4-3 in the 2015 North Division final series and 4-1 in the 2017 Central Division final series.

But Fort Wayne had turned the tables this past regular season, going 6-2-0 against the Walleye.

“We were really disappointed with our effort [on Saturday] and everyone knew it,” Berschbach said. “It was no secret in the locker room that we needed to do better. Each guy stepped up their game and got the job done. It was huge.”

Walleye forwards Kyle Bonis, Tyler Barnes, and Mike Embach had the best chances early in a scoreless first period. The trio had some good sustained pressure that led to an energy jump late in the period.

VIDEO: Toledo’s Shane Berschbach on the Game 2 win over the Komets

Fort Wayne blocked a lot of shots in the first. Christian Hilbrich's chance late in the period was blocked by a defenseman.

Both goalies were busy during the second half of the second period. Nagle had a sprawling pad save on Garrett Thompson kept it scoreless around the 10:22 mark. Houser then came up with a kick save to thwart a Grade A chance by Bonis. Nagle returned the favor with a good stop on Jamie Schaafsma's one-timer.

“It was a big game,” Watson said. “Was it a must, must win? I don't know. But I'm really happy with the result. We made it 1-1 and now we have a job to do when we go to Fort Wayne.”

FISH TALES: Toledo was playing without forward Dylan Sadowy, who was called up to Grand Rapids before the game. Sadowy had one assist in five playoff games for the Walleye. Sadowy had 29 points in 39 games for Toledo in the regular season. O'Connor replaced him in the lineup. ... There were a fair share of Komets supporters, but not as many there were at the downtown arena Saturday.

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354, or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.

First Published April 29, 2018, 11:46 p.m.