Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets upended the visiting Cincinnati Cyclones Friday night 4-1 to even the season series at 3-3-0. Mike Embach started the scoring early at the :42 mark of the first period and added a marker at 12:56 to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission and register his first two-goal game of the season. He also added an assist for his third three-point night of the year.
After a scoreless second frame, Joe Perry put the Komets up 3-0 at 13:59 of the third before Jack Downing spoiled Komet goaltender Pat Nagle's shutout bid at with 1:38 remaining. Shawn Szydlowski scored his 14th goal of the season into an empty net with 12 seconds remaining to give the Komets a 4-1 win. It was Fort Wayne's fifth straight home win and extended their home unbeaten streak to nine games (8-0-1). It was also Fort Wayne's 1500th regular season home win since the team's start in 1952.
Nagle earned his fifth straight home win stopping 25 of 26 shots while sporting the ECHL Fantasy Team MeiGray Goalie Jersey that will be available for bid at ECHL.com and MeiGray.com starting March 3. Cyclone netminder Andy Iles suffered the loss allowing three goals on 28 shots.
Fort Wayne was 1/3 on the power play and continue to rank first in the ECHL with a power play rating of 23.3%. The Komets stopped all three Cincinnati power plays to extended their penalty kill success streak to 33 straight kills. The Komets have stopped 59 of the last 60 power plays they have faced and rank second in the ECHL with a penalty kill rate of 88.1%.
The Komets reached 50 points on the season improving to 24-13-2 while Cincinnati fell to 19-17-5. The Komets have skated 39 games. Only Tulsa has played fewer games at 38.
The Komets skate at Toledo Saturday night at 7:30 before traveling to Kalamazoo for a 4pm match Sunday. The Komets will visit Brampton Tuesday for an 11am game before returning home to host Quad City Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7:30pm.
Report Card Night Feb. 6--The Komets present their second PHP Report Card Night of the year on Saturday, Feb. 6, when the Quad City Mallards visit. Students with an "A" or "A Equivalent" on their most recent report card earn a free ticket and a chance to win a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond for future education. Students can take their report card or a letter from their teacher showing an "A" or an "A equivalent" to the Coliseum Ticket Office between now and game night.
Meet The Komets Thursday at Grote Automotive at 1630 N. Coliseum Blvd. Komet mascot Icy will be on hand with several Komet players for photos, autographs and fun! See Mike Embach, Pat Nagle, Cody Sol and Drew Daniels at Grote Automotive from 6:30pm-8pm this Thursday, Feb. 4.
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-- Komet games are scheduled to be aired on WOWO AM 1190 and FM 107.5 with Bob Chase calling most of the games radio-rinkside in his 63rd consecutive season. All Komet radio broadcasts can also be heard worldwide as presented by Omni Source Radio Recycle at www.komets.com. This Saturday night's game at Kalamazoo will also be televised in the Fort Wayne area on MyTV.