Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets swept four games in week 8 to push their winning streak to five games, gaining eight points and improving to 13-6-2 for 28 points and a tie with Cincinnati for first place in the Central Division after 21 games.
Wednesday the Komets scored a 5-4 overtime victory at Wheeling. Both teams returned to Fort Wayne where the Komets shut out the Nailers 3-0 Thursday. It was the first Fort Wayne shutout in nearly two years since Dec. 31, 2017 in Fort Wayne when Michael Houser logged a 3-0 win on 37 saves over Toledo. Saturday in Fort Wayne the Komets rallied from a 2-1 deficit to stop Cincinnati 3-2 for the fifth Fort Wayne overtime victory of the season and third straight home win. Sunday the Komets upended the Wings in Kalamazoo 5-2 to establish the season's longest win streak at five games.
For week 7-- Shawn St-Amant scored three goals including Wednesday's overtime game winner and added three assists for a six-point week. Brett McKenzie also collected six points for the week scoring two first goals including a game winner and added four assists. Brady Shaw scored five points (3g, 2a) while Brad Morrison (2g, 2a) and Matthew Boudens (2g, 2a) each registered four points. Olivier Galipeau and Alan Lyszczarczyk scored a goal and two assists apiece and Max Gottlieb scored three assists. Kyle Hass bagged a goal and an assist, Shawn Szydlowski dished two assists and Shaquille Merasty netted a marker Saturday in his first appearance as a Komet. Goaltender Cole Kehler was 3-0-0 for the week earning two overtime victories and a shutout in 188:25 of play. Kehler made 72 saves on 78 shots for a 1.91 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. Netminder Patrick Munson backstopped the Komets to their 5-2 victory Sunday at Kalamazoo making 37 saves on 39 shots in his first Fort Wayne appearance.
Komet leaders-- Shaw leads with 17 assists (2nd in ECHL), 26 points, four first goals and 82 shots (4th in ECHL). St-Amant leads with 12 goals and is tied for most power play goals at four each with Szydlowski and A.J. Jenks. Szydlowski leads with nine power play assists (2nd in the ECHL) and ranks first in the league with 13 power play points. Lyszczarczyk leads Fort Wayne rookies and ranks third among league rookies with 18 points (9g, 9a). Gottlieb ranks first among ECHL rookies with six power play assists and third among ECHL defensemen with 16 points. Boudens leads with 45 penalty minutes and ranks second in the league with a 36.8 shooting percentage (7 goals on 19 shots). Shaw and Gottlieb are the only two players that have appeared in all 21 games to date.
Komets streaks-- The Komets have established their longest win streak of the season at five games matching last year's longest win streak of five games (which was done twice).....Shaw has a seven-game point streak (3g, 7a), three-game goal streak (3g), and eight-game home point streak (7g, 5a) and a three-game road streak (1g, 4a).....St-Amant also has a seven-game point streak (7g, 3a), an eight-game home point streak (6g, 6a) and a three-game road point streak (4g, 1a).....McKenzie is riding a five-game assist and point streak (2g, 5a) and a three-game home point streak (1g, 3a).....Boudens has a three-game assist and point streak (2g, 3a).....Morrison (2g, 4a) and Lyszczarczyk (2g, 2a) each have three-game road point streaks.....goalie Kehler has won four straight games.
Special K's-- The Komets moved up in the league from fourth to second best on the power play going 5/16 for the week and improving to a 25.5% rating (21/98) with the man advantage going 5/16 for the week. The Komets also improved their penalty kill stopping 14 of 15 man advantages for a 93.3% PK rating for the week.Â
First to score-- The Komets have scored first in each of their last five games and are 11-2-0 (.846) when scoring first in 13 games overall. The Komets outscored their opponents 16-8 for the week and are now averaging 4.24 goals per game (89 goals in 21 games), second only to Brampton (85 goals in 20 games) who averages 4.25 goals per game.
Looking ahead-- The Komets are on the road for the next two weeks starting with a 7:05pm CT faceoff at Tulsa Friday. Saturday the Komets visit Kansas City for a 7:05pm CT start. The following week the Komets travel to Idaho for games Wednesday, Dec. 11, Friday, Dec. 13 and Saturday, Dec. 14 before returning home to host Indy Friday, Dec. 20.
Friday, Dec. 6 at Tulsa, 7:05pm CT-- The only trip West for the Komets this season starts Friday at Tulsa. It's the first of two meetings with the Oilers who visit Fort Wayne on Feb. 8. The Komets are 3-1-1 all-time against Tulsa in ECHL meetings since defeating the Oilers 3-2 in overtime at Fort Wayne in the only match-up of the year on Dec. 9. Tulsa holds fifth place in the Mountain Division with a record of 9-12-2 and 20 points after 23 games. The Oilers are 2-3-1 in their last six games and are idle this week until the Komets visit Friday.
Saturday at Kansas City, 7:05pm CT-- The Komets make their only trip of the season to Kansas City Saturday for a 7:05pm CT start at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena (5,800) in Independence, Missouri. The Komets and Mavericks had only one meeting last year, a 5-2 Kansas City win in Fort Wayne March 30. The Komets are 9-4-1 after 14 ECHL games against Kansas City since the Komets joined the league in 2012. The Mavericks reside in last place in the Mountain Division with an 8-9-2 record and 18 points after 19 games. However Kansas City has points in their last three games (2-0-1) and are 3-3-2 in their last eight. The Mavericks host Wichita Friday before welcoming the Komets Saturday.
Next home game is Friday, Dec. 20 when the Komets return home for a weekend double-header. Indy visits for Teddy Bear Toss Night Friday and Cincinnati returns Saturday, Dec. 21 for Kids Seat Free Night and Nickelodeon Night.
See Komets Schedule
Komets on ice:Tuesday, Dec. 3.....Practice at the Icehouse, 10am-11:30amWednesday, Dec. 4.....Travel to TulsaAfter Wednesday, Dec. 4, the Komets will not return to Fort Wayne practice ice until Tuesday, Dec. 17 when they practice at the Icehouse at 10am.
Komet hockey on WOWO-- Fans can follow the action with Shane Albahrani broadcasting play-by-play on WOWO AM 1190 and FM 107.5. Game broadcasts are also streamed live at Komets.com.Â
Get Komet Tickets-- Single game tickets are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office. Discounted group ticket packages are also available at the Komet office at 1010 Memorial Way in Fort Wayne. Also on sale are Flex Tickets, perfect as gifts and can be redeemed for tickets to any regular season game. For more information call 260-483-0011 or visit Komets.com.Â