Houser shuts out Mallards

Fort Wayne, IN-- Komet goaltender Michael Houser stopped all 18 shots faced Saturday night at the Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne for his first shutout of the season. It was the reigning ECHL Goaltender of the Week's ninth shutout of his career for his 12th win of the season.

The Komets opened the scoring at 12:24 of the first period on Logan Nelson’s second tally of the season to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

Jamie Schaafsma gave the Komets a 2-0 cushion early in the second at 1:28 on the power play and Ryan Lowney followed 38 seconds later for a 3-0 Fort Wayne lead at the end of two.

The Komets exploded in the third with four goals to complete the 7-0 whitewashing over the Mallards. Mason Baptista pocketed his fifth of the year, Gabriel Desjardins then popped for a pair and Garrett Thompson added the Komets’ seventh marker with 20 seconds remaining in the tilt.

The Komets will take a well-deserved Christmas break over the next few days before ringing in the new year with four games in five nights starting at Cincinnati Wednesday. Friday the Wheeling Nailers visit for an 8pm holiday week faceoff before the Komets travel to Quad City Saturday to face the Mallards at 8:05pm Fort Wayne time. Sunday the Komets welcome rival Toledo to celebrate New Year's Eve in Fort Wayne at 7:30pm.

Coupled with an idle Toledo Walleye Saturday night, the Komets narrowed the gap between themselves and the first-place Walleye to one point in the Central division. Also, the Komets extended their lead over third-place Cincinnati to three points as the Cyclones lost at Indy.

The Komets would like to take this opportunity to wish all Komet fans a very Merry Christmas, and a prosperous New Year!

Get your tickets early-- Tickets are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office and online at ticketmaster.com. Season Tickets also remain on sale at the Komet office at 1010 Memorial Way in Fort Wayne. For more information visit Komets.com or call 260-483-0011.