Going against TWO teams?

TOLEDO, Ohio - With the team having lost six of its last seven, frustrations mounted further for the Walleye from the sin bin after the latest defeat, a 5-4 shootout loss to South Carolina.

Toledo held a 4-1 lead just five minutes into the third period. That fourth goal was a shorthanded tally by Adam Hobson. Shorthanded seemed to be the way Toledo was forced to play in the final stanza. Not counting two offsetting penalties late in the third, the Walleye were shorthanded seven straight times in the final 20 minutes of regulation alone. That included a two-man disadvantage with under three minutes left.

At that point, the game was already tied at four, thanks to a Gregg Johnson power-play goal scored with the man advantage. Ryan Stokes turned the puck over at the blue line and Johnson slapped one past Toledo goalie Alec Richards on the lower glove side.

Before the third period, Toledo had dictated the tempo of the game, but being shorthanded for so much of the third, by the end, the Walleye were outshot 45-37. Richards made 41 saves.

After a scoreless overtime, Richards stopped four of the five Stingray shooters. However, all five Walleye shooters could not put the puck past Braden Holtby.

After the game, Toledo head coach Nick Vitucci called the league to vent his frustrations about the officiating. He tried his best to refrain from criticizing the officials on-camera, but said that it felt like Toledo was playing against two teams in the third.