Komets sweep home double-header weekend

Fort Wayne, IN -- The Komets became the Blacksnakes and wore special Blacksnake jerseys for two weekend Military Appreciation home games in honor of the 122nd Fighter Wing of the Fort Wayne Air National Guard.  The Komets as Blacksnakes swept the home double-header snapping a five-game winless skid and enter week 5 of 2018-19 at 3-5-0 and six points after eight games.  The special pair of the games drew over 8,000 Fort Wayne fans for each game for a total weekend attendance of 16,096.

Friday the Komets upended intrastate rival Indy 5-2.  The Komets mounted a four goal lead on goals by Jamie Schaafsma, Garrett Ladd (2) and Marco Roy before Indy finally solved goaltender Lukas Hafner in the second period.   The Komets added a marker by J.C. Campagna in the third period and Indy answered with a power play goal with 1:22 remaining to finish the game and give Fort Wayne the win, their second over the Fuel this season.  Fort Wayne netminder Hafner stopped 33 of 35 shots for the victory while Indy goalie Matt Tomkins suffered the loss allowing five goals on 37 shots.

Saturday the Komets completed the weekend doubling up the Kalamazoo Wings 6-3.  Defenseman Jason Binkley notched his first two-goal game as a Komet while Justin Hodgman, Justin Kea, Phelix Martineau and Anthony Petruzzelli each contributed goals.  Hodgman added four assists for his first career five-assist game.  Hafner collected the win making 26 saves on 29 shots and improved to 2-2-0.

For the week-- Phelix Martineau and Justin Hodgman each scored a goal and added four assists for five-point weeks.  Jason Binkley followed with four points (2g, 2a) while Garrett Ladd notched two goals and an assist for three points in the two games played.  Anthony Petruzzelli and Marco Roy each scored a goal and an assist.  Jamie Schaafsma, J.C. Campagna and Justin Kea each added a marker to their totals.  Netminder Lukas Hafner won both games logging a 2.50 goals-against average and .922 save percentage.  Komets outshot the opponents 65-64, were 1/5 on the power play and 10/12 on the penalty kill.

Streaking Komets-- Marco Roy pushed his point streak to five games (3g, 2a).....Anthony Petruzzelli has a four-game point-scoring streak (1g, 3a) and a three-game road point streak (2g, 1a)....Justin Hodgman has scored at least a point in each road game for a four-game road point-scoring streak (1g, 6a)....Goaltender Lukas Hafner has won two straight games in three straight starts.

5-pointers-- Hodgman's five point outing Saturday (1g, 4a) was the first of his pro career, and the first for the Komets since Mike Cazzola netted a hat trick and two assists Jan. 15, 2017 in a 6-2 win vs. Indy.  The last time a Komet scored four assists in a game was last season when Shawn Szydlowski dished four assists on Feb. 9, 2018 vs Wichita in an 8-4 win.

Komets head for South Dakota-- The Komets will face the Rapid City Rush in three games at Rapid City this week beginning with a 9:05pm ET faceoff Wednesday at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center (5,119).  It's Fort Wayne's only visit to Rapid City this season.  The Rush make a trip to Fort Wayne on Feb. 2.  The Rush are tied with Tulsa for first place in the Mountain division with 12 points (5-3-2) after 10 games.  Rapid City is coming off a sweep of a three-game set at Tulsa last Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights for a four game winning streak.

Komets home for Thanksgiving-- The Komets next home date is the Bob Chase Memorial Thanksgiving Game on Nov. 22 when the Brampton Beast visit for a 7:30pm holiday match.  The Komets are 8-2-0 in their last 10 Thanksgiving games and have won the last two in a row after last years 5-4 victory over Toledo.  It will be the 58th Fort Wayne home Thanksgiving game (36-17-2-2).

Komet Hockey Tickets--  Single game tickets for all Komet regular season home games are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office.  Season Tickets also remain on sale at the Komet office at 1010 Memorial Way.  For more information visit Komets.com or call 260-483-0011.

Komet Hockey on WOWO-- Fans can follow Komet hockey action again this year with Shane Albahrani calling the play-by-play on WOWO Radio AM 1190 and FM 107.5, and streaming on the web at Komets.com, courtesy OmniSource.