Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets fell 4-3 in double overtime Saturday night in Fort Wayne to give the Colorado Eagles a 3-2 lead in the ECHL Western Conference best-of-seven finals.
The Komets collected a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by Artur Tyanulin and Ryan Culkin. The Eagles opened the second period with Jake Marto's fourth of the playoffs to pull even before the Komets responded at 12:11 when Jamie Schaafsma potted his third of the post-season to give Fort Wayne a 3-2 lead after two frames.
Michael Joly scored the equalizer for the Eagles at 10:25 of the third to send the game into extra time tied at 3-3. After a scoreless first overtime, Colorado's Brady Shaw beat Komet goalie Michael Houser with a one-time in front of the net at 2:38 of the second overtime stanza for the win and put the Eagles on the cusp of the Western Conference Finals championship.
Houser stopped 32 of 36 shots while Colorado goaltender Joe Cannata earned the victory after facing 54 shots and stopping 51 in the 13th longest game in Fort Wayne's history at 82:38.
The series now moves back to Colorado for game 6 Tuesday at 9:05pm ET. If game 7 is necessary, it will be played Wednesday, May 23 at Colorado at 9:05pm ET.
2018 ECHL KELLY CUP WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALSFORT WAYNE KOMETS VS COLORADO EAGLESColorado leads best-of-seven series 3-2
Game 1- Saturday, May 12............ | Fort Wayne 2 at Colorado 3, OT |
Game 2- Sunday, May 13............... | Fort Wayne 3 at Colorado 2 |
Game 3- Wednesday, May 16........ | Colorado 2 at Fort Wayne 4 |
Game 4- Friday, May 18................. | Colorado 2 at Fort Wayne 1 |
Game 5- Saturday, May 19............ | Colorado 4 at Fort Wayne 3, 2OT |
Game 6- Tuesday, May 22............. | Fort Wayne at Colorado, 7:05pm MT |
Game 7- Wednesday, May 23........ | Fort Wayne at Colorado, 7:05pm MT* |
*If necessary. All games on WOWO AM 1190, FM 107.5 and streaming live at www.komets.com.Season tickets for 2018-19 with special early bird pricing are also on sale at the Komet office at 1010 Memorial Way in Fort Wayne. For more information visit the Komet office, Komets.com or call 260-483-0011.
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