Komets return home to face Kalamazoo Friday

Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets return home this week after a pair of road games and 12-day absence from the Coliseum to host the Kalamazoo Wings Friday at 8pm.

The Komets start week six at 6-5-0 and 12 points after 11 games. The Komets dropped both games played during week five. Last week started with a 3-1 setback at Cincinnati Wednesday. Mike Embach scored the lone Komet goal on the power play. Goaltender Pat Nagle suffered the loss making 27 saves on 30 shots. Sunday The Komets were doubled-up by the Mallards at Quad City 2-1. Kyle Thomas opened the scoring with his third goal of the season before the Mallards rallied to take the win. Nagle suffered his third loss of the season allowing two goals on 36 shots. A successful Quad City penalty kill of 4/4 stopped the Komets power play streak at seven games.Komet leaders-- Embach, Jordon Southorn and Trevor Cheek lead with five goals each.....Shawn Szydlowski and Drew Daniels continue to lead with 11 points each.....Daniels leads with nine assists and is tied with Southorn with a team-high +9....Cody Sol leads with 25 penalty minutes.Getting defensive-- Defenseman Drew Daniels ranks second among league defensemen with nine assists and 11 points.....Jordon Southorn ranks second among defensemen with five goals and 39 shots.

Shooting the puck-- The Komets continue to lead the league with a shots-per-game average of 35.5 after directing 391 shots on goal in 11 games. The Komet defense ranks seventh after allowing 309 shots on net for a shots-against average of 28.9 per game.

Special K's-- The Komets penalty killers were 6/7 on the penalty kill for the week and rank fifth in the ECHL with a road penalty killing record of 24/26 and 92.3% PK rating. Overall the Komets rank eighth in the league with a penalty kill of 87.8% (43/49). The Fort Wayne power play ranks fourth with a 23.8% rating (10/42). Forward Garrett Thompson ranks second in the ECHL with five power play assists.Milestones-- Justin Hamonic scored his first pro point when he assisted on Thomas' goal Sunday at Quad City.....Sol appeared in his 200th pro game Sunday at Quad City.Komet player movement-- Four players that started the season with the Komets are now skating in the AHL including defenseman Drew Daniels (Utica), goaltender Spencer Martin (San Antonio) and forwards Trevor Cheek (San Antonio) and Garrett Meurs (San Antonio). Shawn Szydlowski and joined Alex Belzile on the injured reserve list last week and forwards Dean Ouellet and Peter Sivak are on the reserve list. Added to the roster last week were goaltenders Larkin Saalfrank and Adam Morrison. The Komets also added forwards Nikita Kashirsky and Matt Larke along with defenseman Nicholas Kuqali. Saalfrank has been released as an emergency back-up goaltender.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Kalamazoo Wings (6-7-1, 13 points) at Komets (6-5-0, 12 points) Friday, 8pm-- The Komets will return home after a 12-day absence to host Kalamazoo Friday night. The Komets are 3-1-0 after four meetings with the Wings and 1-1-0 on Coliseum ice. The Komets claimed a 5-2 victory in the last meeting on Nov. 8 at Kalamazoo. The Wings trail first-place Wheeling by two points in the North Division of the Eastern Conference and are 2-3-0 in their last five outings. Kalamazoo hosts Toledo Thursday before making the trip to Fort Wayne Friday. The Komets are 4-2-0 after six games at the Coliseum while Kalamazoo is 2-3-0 on the road.Komets at Toledo Walleye (5-5-2, 12 points) Saturday, 7:15pm-- The Komets travel to Toledo Saturday for the first of five meetings at Huntington Center (7,431) this year. Last season Fort Wayne was 1-2-0 in three trips to Toledo. Saturday's game will be the second meeting this year after the Komets stopped the Walleye 4-1 in Fort Wayne Nov. 6. The Walleye trail first-place Wheeling in the North by four points after 12 games. Toledo will host a morning game against Kalamazoo Thursday at 10:35 and then travel to Brampton Friday before welcoming the Komets Saturday. The Walleye are 1-3-1 in their last five games and 0-1-0 after only one home game so far this season.

Komets at Brampton Beast (5-6-1, 11 points) Sunday, 2pm-- It will be Fort Wayne's first trip to Canada for a game since 1998 when they visited the Manitoba Moose in Winnipeg in the old IHL. It was 17 years ago when the Komets visited Manitoba for a two-game set on March 22 and March 24, winning both games. It's also the first meeting of the season between the Komets and the Beast, coached by former Komet stand-out center Colin Chaulk. The Beast are riding a three-game winning streak heading into the week and are 5-1-0 in their last six, recovering from an 0-5-1 start. Brampton will host Toledo Friday before facing the Komets Sunday at the Powerade Centre (5,000) where they are 4-3-1.Kids Seat Free Friday-- The Komets will feature another Kids Seat Free Night when the Wings visit Friday, courtesy Aunt Millie's, Parkview Health and the Komets. Any child under the age of 12 can see the game for free with a full-priced adult ticket purchase. Friday night Marathon Nights-- Again this year Komet fans can save on their Friday night tickets with Marathon. Fans can earn a buy-one-get-one-free ticket offer with the purchase of three fill-ups at any participating Marathon location. Save with your Marathon Fill-Up Card at the game this Friday night when the Komets host the Kalamazoo Wings at 8:00.

Get your tickets early-- Tickets for Komet home games are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office and online at TicketMaster.com. Discounted Group tickets are also on sale for all Komet home games at the Komet office at 1010 Memorial Way. Call the 260-483-0011 or visit komets.com for more information.

Komets on the air-- Most Komet games are scheduled to be aired on WOWO AM 1190 and FM 92.3 as Bob Chase broadcasts Komet hockey play-by-play for his 63rd consecutive season. All Komet radio broadcasts can also be heard worldwide as presented by Omni Source Radio Recycle at www.komets.com. Saturday's game at Toledo and Sunday's game at Brampton will be broadcast on ESPN Radio AM 1380 with Shane Albahrani substituting for Chase.

Soundoff With The Komets continues this year on 21Alive in Fort Wayne. The 30-minute live telecast is hosted by Tommy Schoegler from SportOne/Parkview IceHouse each Monday night at 7:30 throughout the season. Tonight's guest will be goaltender Pat Nagle.