Two sensational individual efforts and an eventful second period propelled the Toledo Walleye past the Wheeling Nailers 6-2 on Saturday night.

The Walleye scored three goals to break open a 1-1 deadlock in the middle period at the Huntington Center, during which 13 penalties were called, totaling 54 minutes.

Toledo forward Mitchell Lewandowski started the frenzy when he scored to make it 2-1. Lewandowski then assisted on the game-winning goal by Bobby Russell with a sensational individual effort. Trenton Bliss finished the scoring barrage in the second, and goalie Carter Gylander made the outburst stand with 21 saves.

Brandon Kruse got Toledo going with his terrific effort on a first-period goal. Rookies Cole Gallant and Colby Ambrosio also scored for the Walleye, who avenged a 3-2 overtime home loss to the Nailers on Friday night.

The Walleye erupted for five goals in the final two periods in a feisty game featuring a season-high 94 penalty minutes.

“It was an emotional game,” Walleye coach Pat Mikesch said. “Both teams have a lot of respect for each other. You don't want to go over the top on the emotion. You want to use the building as a positive and not let it distract you. That was a playoff atmosphere. We talked about it in the room — that's what it's going to feel like in the playoffs.”

Lewandowski finished with four points (1 G, 3 A) and Bliss had three (1 G, 2 A).

“We needed it that,” Lewandowski said. “We've been kind of snake-bit the last month. It's good to kind of blow the doors open and get guys feeling good.”

Lewandowski put together a lengthy, all-out effort as he beat a Wheeling player on a back-check in a 50-50 battle for the puck. The 5-foot-9, 183-pound forward then crushed a Nailer into the boards, gathered the puck for an outlet pass, and fed it over to Russell, who capped it off with a goal that made it 3-2 near the game's midpoint.

“I took the shot in the o-zone to spring that 50-50 breakaway, so I wanted to get that puck,” Lewandowski said. “Then I just tried to finish the play. I saw Russ coming late and got it to him, and good things happened.”

Wheeling's Cole Tymkin then got into a fight with Toledo's Darian Pilon. That followed a big hit by Toledo defenseman Jalen Smereck that thrilled the standing-room-only crowd of 8,400.

“Pilon got it started for us. Jalen made a big hit,” Lewandowski said. “The crowd reacted great to that. We built that momentum up and continued at the rest of the game.”

The big check that knocked Wheeling's Aidan Sutter off his skates led to the goal by Bliss, who scored on a nice backhander for a 4-2 lead with 7:56 left in the second.

“We just kept building off the energy from the crowd,” Bliss said. “I think that was massive. And we didn't get distracted by the extracurriculars. I liked all facets of our game.”

Down 1-0, Kruse also orchestrated a fantastic individual effort to get the Walleye on the board. Kruse stole the puck from a Wheeling player near the Nailers' blue line. He then quickly stick-handled through one Nailer defender and launched a snap shot that beat Wheeling goalie Jaxon Castor (24 saves) over his shoulder. Kruse's seventh goal of the season tied the game at 1 at 7:47 of the first period.

“He got that momentum right back after that first goal and kept the fans in it,” Bliss said. “That was a really good play to make that steal. He's a super skilled player, and that just catapulted us.”

Toledo tacked on a power-play goal from Gallant on a nice feed from Conlan Keenan for a 5-2 cushion with 12:13 remaining. It was the first point in a Walleye uniform for Gallant, who was acquired in a trade with Utah for Griffin Ness on March 10.

Lewandowski put the Walleye up 2-1 with a goal 1:15 into the second period. Brandon Hawkins dished the puck from behind the net out to Lewandowski at the top of the slot, and Lewandowski scored his 22nd goal of the season.

Wheeling, however, tied it back up at 2 a little more than two minutes later on a goal by Matthew Quercia.

In the third, Ambrosio scored his second goal in as many nights to put them up 6-2 with 4:10 left.

The Walleye have just eight games left in the regular season. Toledo (40-15-9), which leads the Central Division, closes the three-game weekend home stand on Sunday against a Bloomington squad that is fighting for one of the final playoff spots in the Central.

“We have goals,” Bliss said. “We want to win the division. We're playing for home ice for at least the first two rounds. It would be obviously massive to be able to play in this building.”

First Published March 23, 2025, 3:20 a.m.