It was a pretty bleak weekend for the Golden Eagles, who lost their fourth straight game Saturday night at Kalamazoo, starting slowly and getting worse before finally carrying play in the third period of a 6-2 setback.
The last time the Eagles lost four in a row was April 1988.What's worse, the two weekend losses, at Indianapolis and Kalamazoo, were pointless losses - the Eagles didn't get any standings points for getting into an overtime, the way they had in three of their previous losses.
The Eagles gave up 12 goals and scored six in the Friday-Saturday set.
Even captain Rich Chernomaz slumped a little on Saturday. Although he maintained his scoring streak, now nine games, his goal-scoring streak of eight straight games was finally halted, leaving him three short of the team record.
Kalamazoo scored :56 into the game when ex-Eagle Peter Lappin led a rush and Gary Emmons put in a centering pass from Mike McHugh. Scott Robinson added a power-play goal at 18:36 for a 2-0 Wing lead.
The only time it got anxious for Kalamazoo was when Martin Simard goaled 2:13 into the second period to cut the lead to 2-1, but a goal by Dean Kolstad just :25 later started a run of four straight in the second period to give Kalamazoo a 6-1 lead.
The Eagles often stood and watched the Wings motor into the slot in that period, not giving goalie Wayne Cowley much help. McHigh scored the fourth goal, Kolstad scored for a second time, and Mitch Messier added the sixth. Marc Bureau scored at 7:02 of the third for Salt Lake.
The Eagles now return to the Salt Palace to meet the Phoenix Roadrunners for the first time Monday night. They also host Fort Wayne Tuesday and Thursday before taking off for Pheonix Saturday and beginning a six-game road trip.