Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets avoided being swept in the Central Division finals with a 4-1 win Friday night over the Toledo Walleye at the Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.A crowd of 7,162 witnessed the Komets jump out front 2-0 in the first period and never look back.
Fort Wayne's Jamie Schaafsma opened the scoring at 3:13 of the first frame before Gabriel Desjardins netted his fifth of the playoffs at 15:08 to put the Komets up 2-0. Before the period could end Evan Rankin scored a power play marker to pull the Walleye within one at 18:25 and send the game into the first intermission with the Komets holding a 2-1 edge.After a scoreless second period, Shawn Szydlowski hit the net on the power play at 10:02 of the third and Schaafsma potted his second of the night, fifth of the post-season, to seal the victory at 4-1.
Fort Wayne goaltender Pat Nagle earned the win making 34 saves while Toledo's Jeff Lerg registered his second loss of the playoffs allowing four goals on 32 shots.
The Komets were 1/4 on the power play and 5/6 on the penalty kill.
Toledo leads the best-of-seven series 3-1 as the series moves to Toledo for game 5 Saturday at 7:35pm. If game 6 is needed it will be played in Fort Wayne on Monday at 7:30pm. Game 7, if needed, will face off at the Huntington Center in Toledo Wednesday at 7:35pm.
2017 ECHL KELLY CUP CENTRAL DIVISION FINALSFORT WAYNE KOMETS VS TOLEDO WALLEYEToledo leads best-of-seven series 3-1Game 1- Friday, April 28...........Fort Wayne 1 at Toledo 2Game 2- Saturday, April 29.......Fort Wayne 3 at Toledo 4 (OT)Game 3- Wednesday, May 3.....Toledo 3 at Fort Wayne 2Game 4- Friday, May 5..............Toledo 1 at Fort Wayne 4Game 5- Saturday, May 6.........Fort Wayne at Toledo, 7:35pmGame 6- Monday, May 8...........Toledo at Fort Wayne, 7:30pm*Game 7- Wednesday, May 10...Fort Wayne at Toledo, 7:35pm**If necessary.
2017 Season Tickets--Season Tickets with Early Bird Pricing for the 66th anniversary season are on sale now. For more information visit Komets.com or call 260-483-0011.
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