Komets stop Beast, ground Mallards for 4-point week

Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets improved in week 17 to 27-14-2 and 56 points after collecting four points in two games played. The Komets enter week 18 leading the Midwest Division with 29 games remaining in 2015-16.

The week began with a 5-2 win at Brampton Tuesday. Shawn Szydlowski assisted on four goals for the second time this season and registered his third 4-point outing of the year. Brett Perlini scored a pair including his team-leading fifth game winning tally of the year while Trevor Cheek, Mike Embach and Cody Sol each contributed markers. Goaltender Pat Nagle earned the win making 25 saves on 27 shots. The Komets complete the season series against Brampton at 2-1-1.

Saturday the Komets capped the week with a 3-1 win over Quad City in front of a season-high home crowd of 9,677. Newcomer Troy Bourke, playing his first ECHL career game after being reassigned to Fort Wayne from San Antonio, scored the first goal of the game. Alex Belzile scored the game winner and Embach netted one for insurance. Nagle reached his 20th win of the season stopping 30 of 31 shots. Perlini dished an assist and has points in 18 of his last 21 games (9g, 14a). The Komets evened the season series against Quad City a 2-2-2 with three meetings remaining in Fort Wayne.

Komet leaders-- Embach 21 goals, ECHL-high nine power play goals, 48 points.....Szydlowski 31 assists, nine power play assists.....Jordon Southorn and Drew Daniels +15.....Cody Sol 127 penalty minutes....Perlini 138 shots.

Streaking Komets-- Five players finished the week riding point streaks. Cheek pushed his point streak to five games (3g, 3a) and has points in all five home games he has appeared in this season (4g, 4a)..... Belzile has a three-game point streak (2g, 4a) and a seven-game home point streak (3g, 9a).....Szydlowski has an assist streak of three games (7a) and a five-game home point-scoring streak (1g, 5a).....Embach has a three-game point streak (3g, 5a).....Perlini has a three-game point streak (3g, 1a) and a 10-game home point-scoring streak (3g, 10a).....Nagle has a six-game home winning streak.....The Komets have won three straight games, have won six straight at home and are riding a 10-game home unbeaten streak (9-0-1).

Special K's-- The Komets were 6/6 on the penalty kill for the week and have not surrendered a power play goal since Jan. 8. Since then, and over the last 14 games counting Jan. 8, the Komets have fashioned a successful penalty kill streak of 46 straight kills (and 72 over the last 73) for an ECHL best 89.0% PK success rating (153/172). Nagle stopped all six power plays he faced during the week and has a successful penalty kill streak of 40 straight kills......The Komets also lead the ECHL with a power play unit that boasts a success rating of 23.0% (38/165).

Milestones-- Netminder Pat Nagle notched his 100th career win Tuesday at Brampton.....Brett Perlini scored his 100th career point with the game winner Tuesday at Brampton.....Cody Sol scored his first goal of the season at Brampton Tuesday.....Brett Perlini set a new career high of 15 assists in a season with a helper Saturday.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Tuesday at Evansville-- The Komets hit the road for a tour of four games in six nights this week starting with a 7:15pm ET faceoff at Evansville (16-22-5, 37 points) Tuesday. It will be the second of three trips this year to the Ford Center (9,100) where the Komets are 13-9-0 since the IceMen moved into the Ford Center in 2011-12 while a member of the CHL. The Komets are 34-16-5 all-time against Evansville and 1-1-0 this season after suffering a 6-4 loss to the IceMen Dec. 14 in Fort Wayne in the last meeting. Tuesday's match is the third of six meetings this season. The division rival IceMen are in fifth place in the Midwest Division and trail the first-place Komets by 19 points after 43 games. Evansville is 1-3-1 in their last four games and are coming off a 2-1 shootout home win against Rapid City Saturday.

Friday at Cincinnati-- Friday the Komets skate at Cincinnati (21-19-5, 47 points) at 7:35pm. The division rival Cyclones fell 4-1 to the Komets in the last meeting Jan. 29 in Fort Wayne and are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games. Cincy trails the Komets in the Midwest Division by nine points and will host Kalamazoo Wednesday before facing the Komets Friday at the U.S. Bank Arena (6,955). It will be the ninth of 10 meetings this season with the season series even at 4-4-0. The final meeting of the season will be at Cincinnati March 29.

Saturday at Kalamazoo-- The Komets travel to Kalamazoo (19-20-5, 43 points) for a 7pm start at Wings Event Center (5,113) Saturday for the final meeting of the season. The Komets scored a 6-2 victory out of Kalamazoo Jan. 31 for a 6-1-0 season series lead. The third-place Wings reside in the North Division of the Eastern Conference and trail first-place Toledo by 15 points. Kalamazoo is 5-1-2 in their last eight games and 4-1-0 in their last five. The Wings skate at Cincinnati Wednesday and Evansville Friday before hosting the Komets Saturday.

Sunday at Toledo-- The Komets finish the week at the Huntington Center in Toledo (27-13-4, 58 points) Sunday at 5:15pm. The Komets lead the season series 3-2-0 and are 1-2-0 after three trips to Toledo. The Walleye are on a run of 10-3-0 over the last 13 games but have lost their last two, both at Kalamazoo, last Friday and Saturday. Starting Friday at Brampton, Toledo skates a home-and-home series with the Beast Friday and Saturday before they welcome the Komets Sunday.

Next at home-- The Komets host a double-header weekend when they return home next week. Friday, Feb. 19 the Toledo Walleye make their third of four visits at 8pm and Sunday, Feb. 21 the Colorado Eagles make their only appearance of the season in Fort Wayne at 5pm.

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 107.5 with Bob Chase calling the action radio-rinkside in his 63rd consecutive season. However Tuesday's game at Evansville and Saturday's match at Kalamazoo will be called by Shane Albahrani. All Komet radio broadcasts can also be heard worldwide as presented by Omni Source Radio Recycle at www.komets.com. 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 Komet forward Brett Perlini will be the guest.