Thanksgiving week yields six points for Komets

Fort Wayne, IN -- The Komets earned six points for the Thanksgiving week by sweeping a three-game holiday set. The Komets improved to an even .500 at 8-8-0 for 16 points.  The Komets scored the first goal in each game, never played from behind and outscored their opponents 10-6.

The week started with a 3-2 Thanksgiving win in the traditional holiday Fort Wayne game against Brampton.  J.C. Campagna, Jake Kamrass and Justin Hodgman each scored for the Komets and goaltender Zach Fucale snapped a personal four-game winless skid making 27 saves on 29 shots.

Friday the Komets doubled-up the Wings at Kalamazoo 4-2.  The Komets mounted a 4-0 lead as Campagna, Kamrass and Hodgman each scored again for the second straight night and Justin Kea netted his second marker of the season before Kalamazoo cut the lead in half and threatened with a pair in the third.  Lukas Hafner stopped 34 of 36 shots in the Fort Wayne net to improve to 5-3-0.Saturday the Komets once again gained a 3-0 lead before allowing the visiting Cincinnati Cyclones to rally at the end of the game with a pair of goals 1:17 apart.  With 10 seconds remaining the Komets held on to a 3-2 lead for the victory.  Jamie Schaafsma scored the first goal of the game for the Komets and Shawn Szydlowski notched his first goal of the season.  Campagna added the eventual game winner at 3:46 of the second frame.  Fucale earned his second straight win with 24 saves.

For the week-- Justin Hodgman scored two goals and added three assists, J.C. Campagna scored three goals and an assist, scoring three points were Ryan Lowney (3a), Jake Kamrass (2g, 1a) and Shawn Szydlowski (1g, 2a).  Adding a couple points to their totals were Jason Binkley (2a), Justin Kea (1g, 1a) and Alexander Kuqali (2a).  Jamie Schaafsma notched a goal and Ryan Siiro dished his first point as a Komet while Anthony Petruzzelli earned an assist.  Netminder Lukas Hafner won his only appearance Friday and Zach Fucale was 2-0-0, allowed four goals for a 2.00 goals-against average and stopped 51 of 55 shots for a .927 save percentage.

The week ahead-- The Komets will continue to be busy during week 8 of 2018-19 skating three divisional games in four nights. Wednesday, Nov. 28 Komets at Cincinnati Cyclones-- The K's travel to Cincinnati (12-5-2, 26 points) Wednesday for a 7:35pm faceoff at the U.S. Bank Arena (6,955).  Cincy has lost its last two games after posting a five-game win string. The Cyclones trail first-place Toledo by a point in the Central division but lead the Komets by 10 points as Fort Wayne has three games in hand.  After losing in Fort Wayne Saturday night Cincinnati suffered another 3-2 loss at Wheeling Sunday. The Cyclones will again host the Komets Saturday in their only two games of the week.Friday, Nov. 30, Toledo Walleye at Komets-- Friday the Komets return home to host Toledo (13-2-1, 27 points) Friday at 8pm.  It's the fourth of 11 meetings this season and the second of five on Sweetwater Ice at the Memorial Coliseum.  The Komets were clipped by the Walleye 2-1 in their last meeting at Toledo on Nov. 17.  The Walleye are coming off two straight wins Friday and Saturday.  After a 1-1-1 start to the season Toledo is 12-1-0 in its last 13.  Toledo is idle this week until they travel to Fort Wayne Friday.

Saturday, Dec. 1, Komets at Cincinnati Cyclones-- The Komets return to Cincinnati for a 7:35pm faceoff Saturday and kick off a month of 13 games including four on the road.  The Komets will skate at Wheeling next Friday, Dec. 7 before hosting nine home games over a period of 24 days to finish out the year.

Komet leaders-- Justin Hodgman leads with 18 assists, 24 points (ranks third in the ECHL) and +9.....Jake Kamrass and J.C. Campagna lead with eight goals....Kamrass leads with 51 shots (34 with South Carolina)....Kamrass ranks seventh among league rookies with 14 points and leads with three game winning goals.....Taylor Crunk leads with 38 penalty minutes....Luka Hafner ranks second among ECHL goaltenders with a 2.09 goals-against average and ranks third with a save percentage of .932.

Streaking Komets-- The Komets are riding a three-game winning streak and have won four straight home games.....Jason Binkley has a four-game home point-scoring streak (2g, 4a).....J.C. Campagna has a three-game goal and point-scoring streak (3g, 1a)....Justin Hodgman has points in three straight games (2g, 3a) and three straight home games (2g, 5a).

On the PK-- The Komets had a string of 20 consecutive successful penalty kills before the string was snapped at 1:57 of the third period at Kalamazoo Friday.  For the week the Komets were 9/12 on the PK and rank seventh in the league at 86.5% (64/74).

Kids Seat Free Night Friday--  Once again this season the Komets will feature Kids Seat Free Nights.  A Kids Seat Free Night is scheduled for this Friday when the Walleye visit courtesy Aunt Millie's, Lutheran Health Network and the Komets. Any child under the age of 12 can see the game for free with a full-priced adult ticket purchase.

Teddy Bear Toss Friday-- Fans are invited to bring new or gently used stuffed animals to Friday's home game against Toledo.  The Komets' first goal of the game will be the signal for all stuffed animals to be tossed onto the ice where they will be collected and donated to the Disorderly Bear Den, a non-profit charity that collects stuffed animals for those in need.

Friday night Marathon Nights-- Again this year 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 participating Marathon locations.  Save with your Marathon Fill-Up Card at the first Marathon Night of the season this Friday when Toledo visits for an 8pm faceoff.

Komet Hockey Tickets--  Single game tickets for all Komet regular season home games are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office.  Enjoy several discount plans designed especially for your next group, or check out Komets Flex Tickets for great gift giving and more.  For more information visit Komets.com, call 260-483-0011 or see details here.

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.