Komets hold first place in Midwest division

Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets were 1-1-1 for week 23 of 2015-16 and improved to 35-20-8 and 78 points with three weeks and nine games remaining.

The week began with a wild 4-0 shutout victory at Evansville Thursday. Goaltender Pat Nagle snagged his fourth shutout of the season on 25 saves. Louis Belisle, Jamie Schaafsma, Daniel Barczuk and Shawn Szydlowski each contributed markers. The game ended Fort Wayne's longest road trip of eight games in 16 days (4-2-2) and was the Komets' most penalized game of the season (72 minutes). It was the most penalty minutes accessed Fort Wayne in a game since Nov. 30, 2012 when the Komets totaled 86 penalty minutes at Gwinnett. The Komets also improved to 25-0-0 when leading after two periods.

Friday the Komets were doubled-up by the visiting Quad City Mallards 2-1 in the first of a five-game home stand. Trevor Cheek scored the lone Fort Wayne goal to extend his home point-scoring streak to seven games (5g, 5a). Cheek has had at least a point in each Fort Wayne home game played this season. Nagle suffered the loss making 21 saves on 23 shots and had his point-streak snapped at eight games (5-0-3).

Saturday the Komets dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Mallards in the second of a back-to-back home game series. Jordon Southorn, Schaafsma and Szydlowski scored for the Komets while Nagle made 22 saves on 26 shots in his fourth straight start.

Milestones-- In Thursday's 4-0 win at Evansville, Barczuk scored his first Fort Wayne goal in his first game since acquired from Rapid City in a trade.....Nagle set a new career season high of 25 wins with his shutout victory Thursday at Evansville and logged his career season high 44th game Friday against Quad City.....Southorn skated his 300th pro game Thursday.More one-goal games-- The Komets added two more one-goal games to their total last week and are now 12-6-8 in 26 one-goal games.Komet leaders-- Szydlowski leads with 47 assists, 66 points and 183 shots.....Mike Embach leads with 23 goals.....Southorn leads with +22....Cody Sol leads with 225 penalty minutes. It's the first time a Fort Wayne player has accumulated over 200 minutes in a season since Brent Henley amassed 201 minutes in 2011-12.

THE WEEK AHEADWednesday, Wheeling Nailers (33-23-7, 73 points) at Komets, 7:30pm-- The Komets will host the Wheeling Nailers Wednesday at 7:30pm. It's the only meeting of the season. The Komets are 3-4-2 all-time against the Nailers after fashioning a 1-2-1 record in four meetings against the Nailers last season. Wheeling only had one visit to Fort Wayne last year, a 5-4 shootout victory for the Nailers. Wheeling is on a pace to finish in second place in the North division, currently trailing first-place Toledo by 14 points and leading third-place Kalamazoo by 10 points with nine games remaining. The Nailers are an unbeaten 7-0-2 in their last nine outings and will host Toledo Tuesday before traveling to Fort Wayne Friday.

Friday, Toledo Walleye (41-17-5, 87 points) at Komets, 8pm-- The Komets and Toledo will clash for the ninth and final time this season when the Walleye visit Friday for an 8pm faceoff at the Memorial Coliseum. The Komets are 4-3-1 in the season series after a 4-3 loss at Toledo in their last meeting Feb. 20 at Toledo. The Walleye leads the Eastern Conference and ranks second overall in the ECHL with 87 points after 63 games. Toledo is 4-2-0 in their last six games and are starting this week after a 3-1 loss to Evansville last Saturday. The Walleye skate at Wheeling Tuesday before visiting Fort Wayne Friday.

Saturday, Evansville IceMen (26-29-8, 60 points) at Komets, 7:30pm-- Only two meetings remain this season between the Komets and IceMen and both are in Fort Wayne. This Saturday the Komets will host Evansville for the fifth meeting of the year. The Komets are 2-1-1 after four meetings. The IceMen are in 11th place in the Western Conference and trail eighth-place (and eighth and final seed) Quad City by eight points with nine games remaining in the race for playoff contention. The IceMen finished last week with a pair of wins and are 4-2-0 in their last six games. Evansville will travel to Missouri Wednesday and Quad City Friday before completing the week in Fort Wayne Saturday.

If the playoffs were this week-- The first place finisher in each division will be seeded 1,2 and 3 and the next five highest point totals in each conference will qualify for the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs, which get underway the week of April 10th. All series will be a best-of-seven series format. If the playoffs started this week, the Komets would be seed number two in the Western Conference and would face Colorado.

12th annual Bus Stuff for Community Harvest Food Bank-- The annual CampusLink Bus Stuff to benefit the Community Harvest Food Bank will take place at all three Komet home games this week, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The Komets are asking fans to donate canned or packaged food to benefit this year's Bus Stuff. Partnering with the Komets again on the Bus Stuff promotion are Citilink, Ivy Tech and IPFW. Community Harvest Food Bank Barrels will be located at the entrance of the arena for Komet fans to drop off their donation as they enter the building.OmniSource Season Ticket Recycling Night Wednesday-- Season ticket holders have another chance to exchange their unused season tickets from previous games of the season for tickets to see the Komets face Wheeling this Wednesday compliments of OmniSource.Deuces Wild Wednesday-- It's deuces wild this Wednesday when the Komets host the Wheeling Nailers. Tickets will be sold at 2 for $22 and fans can get $2 beers and $2 sodas all night.Komets Fight Cancer Weekend-- The Komets present "Komets Fight Cancer" at Komet home games this Friday and Saturday, sponsored by Fifth Third Bank. The Komets will wear special Komets Fight Cancer jerseys that will be auctioned off after Saturday's home game against Evansville with proceeds going to help in the fight against cancer.

4 for 55 Friday-- This Friday fans can take advantage of the Komets' "4-for-55" special Family 4-Pack Ticket Offer when the Komets host Toledo, courtesy MidWest America Federal Credit Union. Get four upper arena tickets, four hot dogs, four soft drinks and four chips for only $55!

Get your tickets early-- Tickets for Komet home games are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office and online at TicketMaster.com. Season tickets for 2016-17 and 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.

Friday night Marathon Nights-- 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 when the Komets host the Toledo Walleye.Komets on the air-- 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. 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 defenseman Randy Cure will be the guest.