Komets clip Nailers, spill Oilers for 4-point week

Fort Wayne, IN -- The Komets turned three games into four points for week 9 of 2018-19 and improved to 12-10-0 and 24 points.

The K's began the weekend of three games in three nights with a 5-4 win at Wheeling Friday.  The Komets put up four unanswered markers in the first period.  Justin Kea and Jake Kamrass each scored a goal and J.C. Campagna netted a pair for a 4-0 lead heading into the first intermission.  The Nailers started the second period with rookie goaltender Jordan Ruby appearing in relief of starter Danny Tirone and rallied with three straight goals to pull within one before Phelix Martineau gave the Komets a 5-3 lead at the end of the second stanza.  Wheeling threatened with a goal in the third period but couldn't catch Fort Wayne as the Komets finished with a 5-4 win. Zach Fucale posted the Fort Wayne win making 31 saves on 35 shots while Wheeling's netminder Ruby suffered the loss in his first appearance with the Nailers.

Saturday the Indy Fuel took a 5-2 win out of Fort Wayne for their first victory against the Komets in three meetings this season.  The Komets opened the scoring at 9:55 of the first period on a shorthanded goal by Jamie Schaafsma.  Indy responded with three tallies by the end of the second period for a 3-1 lead. The Komets were first to mark in the third period at 0:27 with Jason Binkley's fourth of the season but the comeback ended as the Fuel put the game away with two additional goals including an empty netter to cap the session.  Goalie Matt Tomkins earned the win for Indy with 28 saves and Lukas Hafner suffered his fifth Fort Wayne loss of the season stopping 18 of 22 shots.

Sunday the Komets spotted the visiting Tulsa Oilers a 2-0 lead before Martineau solved Oiler goaltender Devin Williams with the only goal of the second period at 12:48.  After a scoreless 26:26 of play defenseman Alex Kuqali netted his first of the season with 46 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Komets a 2-2 tie and force overtime.  In the extra session Martineau finished a march up the ice by potting his third game winning goal of the year unassisted at 3:24. Fucale grabbed the win in the Fort Wayne net on 28 saves and improved to 7-4-0 while Williams suffered the loss allowing three goals on 25 shots.

Komet leaders-- Justin Hodgman leads the Komets with 20 assists, 28 points and +10.....J.C. Campagna leads with 13goals......Taylor Crunk leads with 54 penalty minutes.....Jake Kamrass and Phelix Martineau lead with three game winning goals.

Streaking Komets-- Phelix Martineau has a three-game point-scoring streak (3g, 1a) and a three-game home point streak (3g, 2a).....Justin Kea has points in four straight road games (3g, 1a).....J.C. Campagna is riding a four-game road point streak (5g, 1a).....Justin Hodgman has points in four consecutive road games (3g, 4a)....goaltender Zach Fucale has a six-game winning streak and a four-game home win streak.  Fucale has also won all three games needing extra time so far this season.

Milestones-- Forward Garrett Ladd scored his 100th career point with an assist in the Komets' 5-4 win at Wheeling Friday. Defenseman Kevin Gibson appeared in his 200th career game Saturday against Indy. Defenseman Jason Binkley is sitting on 99 career points.

Campagna reaches seven game goal streak-- J.C. Campagna set an ECHL season high seven-game goal-scoring streak from the period of Nov. 22 to Dec. 6, scoring a total of eight goals during that period.  It was the first time a Fort Wayne player reached seven consecutive games of scoring at least a goal in each game in 24 years.  The last time a Komet reached seven games was Konstantin Shafranov during 1994-95, when he tied the Fort Wayne team record of eight games with John Purves (1994-95) and Merv Dubchak (twice in 1965-66).

The week ahead-- The Komets face another three games in three nights this weekend:

Friday, Dec. 14, Wichita Thunder (11-9-4, 26 points) at Komets, 8pm-- The Komets will host Wichita Friday night when the Thunder make their first of three visits to Fort Wayne this season.  The Komets were 4-0-0 last season against Wichita, 3-0-0 in Fort Wayne.  The Komets are 7-3-1 all-time against Wichita.  The Thunder enter week 10 riding a five-game winning streak after knocking off Rapid City three straight games this past weekend at home to pull within a point of fourth place in the Mountain division of the Western Conference.  Wichita is idle this week until they travel to Fort Wayne Friday.

Saturday, Dec. 15, Toledo Walleye (15-5-2, 32 points) at Komets, 7:30pm-- It will be the fifth of 11 meetings this season against the arch rival Walleye.  The Komets clipped the Walleye 3-2 in overtime at Fort Wayne Nov. 30 in the last meeting and are 1-3-0 against Toledo.  The Walleye trail first-place Cincinnati by a point in the Central division and lead third-place Fort Wayne by eight points heading into the week.  Toledo hosts Norfolk Friday before making the trip to Fort Wayne Saturday.

Sunday, Dec. 16, Komets at Wheeling Nailers (9-11-1, 19 points), 3:05pm-- The Komets make a return trip to Wheeling Sunday after scoring a 5-4 victory at WesBanco Arena (5,200) last Friday.  Division rival Wheeling is tied with Kalamazoo in last place in the Central division at 19 points and trail fourth place Indy by three points. Sunday's game is the second of eight meetings this season and the second of five at Wheeling.  The Nailers are coming off two wins Saturday and Sunday and will welcome Allen Wednesday before traveling to Kalamazoo Friday.  Wheeling returns home to face Norfolk Saturday before hosting the Komets Sunday to cap a four-game week.Family Four Pack, 4 for $59 Night Friday--  Fans can take advantage of a 4-for-$59 offer at Friday's home game courtesy of Midwest America Federal Credit Union.  Get four tickets, four hot dogs, four soft drinks, four chips for only $59 when purchasing the Family Four Pack at the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office.

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 this Friday when Toledo visits for an 8pm faceoff.

Kids Seat Free Night Saturday--  Once again this season the Komets will feature Kids Seat Free Nights.  A Kids Seat Free Night is scheduled for this Saturday 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.

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 sightings-- It's Career Day this Thursday at Dekalb Middle School and the students will have a chance to interview a few of the Komet players about being a professional athlete. Also, next week all of the Komet players will be visiting Parkview children’s ward on Thursday, Dec. 20th to deliver gifts and spread some holiday cheer.

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.