Komets dominate series with Indy, Take first place in west

Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets went to Indianapolis for a three-game series and came home with five out of a possible six points.  After Friday’s overtime loss, the Komets would take Saturday and Sunday’s matchup, out-scoring Indy 13-4 over the three games. The Komets are in first place in the Western Conference with a record of 5-1-2-1 with 13 points and a winning percentage of .722%.  The team returns home to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum this Friday and Saturday for two games versus the Wheeling Nailers.

Last week results

Fri 2/26 @ Indy   FW 2 - Indy 3 OTL

Sat 2/27 @ Indy  FW 8 - Indy 1 W

Sun 2/28 @ Indy FW 3 - Indy 0 W

About last week: Friday, the Komets fell in overtime 3-2 to the Fuel. Matt Boudens would score his first of the season at the 9:32 mark of the first period, with Anthony Petruzzelli scoring on the power play for his fourth goal of the season with just two seconds remaining in the second period.  The Komets were unable to hold the lead however, as Indy scored twice in the third period and the game winner in overtime.  Mathieu Brodeur, Zach Pochiro, Stephen Harper and Shawn Szydlowski would all be credited with assists, while Goaltender Stefanos Lekkas got tagged with the loss after making 23 saves.  

The Komets took down the Fuel 8-1 for their first road win of the season on Saturday.  Zach Pochiro scored on the first shot of the game, just 45 seconds into the first period.  The Komets then scored two shorthanded goals from Spencer Smallman and Jason Cotton on the same penalty kill.  Smallman would add another shorthanded goal at 15:53 of the second period, giving the Komets three shorties for the night.  Zach Pochiro would also finish with two goals.  Stephen Harper, Blake Siebenaler and Anthony Nellis would also score. The shutout bid was spoiled at 19:02 of the third period when Michael Pelech scored Indy’s only goal of the night.  Lekkes would finish with 26 saves and the win.

The rubber match of the weekend series on Sunday went the way of the Komets by a score of 3-0. Rookie goaltender Louis-Phillip Guindon would earn his road win and his first professional shutout making 19 saves. Anthony Nellis would score first at 2:31 of the first period, with Justin Vaive and Jackson Leef netting goals in the second period.   

For the week— Zach Pochiro, Anthony Nellis and Jackson Leef finished with three points each.  Pochiro, Nellis and Spencer Smallman each scored two goals, while Leef would contribute a goal and two assists.  Defenseman Mathieu Brodeur and Shawn Szydlowski added two assists.  Anthony Petruzzelli, Matt Boudens, Stephen Harper and Justin Vaive all scored a goal and dished an assist. Blake Siebenaler and Jason Cotton would score goals while Randy Gazzola, Matt Murphy and Olivier Galipeau would tally assists. Goaltender Stefanos Lekkas would start twice going 1-0-1 making 49 saves and giving up four goals to finish the week with 1.96 GAA and 0.925 save percentage.  Louis-Phillip Guindon made 19 saves in his only start going 1-0 with a shutout.

Special K's—The Komets went 3 for 13 on the power play this weekend. On the penalty kill, the Komets successfully killed off 10 Indy power plays.  The team has now killed 14 straight putting them atop the league allowing just four power play goals on 37 total chances this season.  With Spencer Smallman’s two shorthanded goals Saturday, the Komets now have four in nine games.  Smallman leads the league with three.   

Komet streaks—Anthony Petruzzelli has scored goals in the last three home games. 

Komet leaders— Zach Pochiro leads the team in points with nine. Pochiro leads the team in goals scored with eight.  Olivier Galipeau leads with seven assists. Matthew Boudens leads the team with 22 PIM and Zach Pochiro has a +8 rating.  

Icing the puck— The eight-goal explosion Saturday night was the Komets highest offensive output since January 19, 2019, when the club lost to Kalamazoo 10-8 at the Coliseum. Saturday was the third time this season an ECHL team reached the eight-goal mark, but the seven-goal differential was the largest margin of victory for any team this season.  Stephen Harper and Blake Siebenaler scored the fastest two goals of the season just 24 seconds apart in the second period of Saturday’s 8-1 win.  Louis-Phillip Guindon’s shutout Sunday was the first by a Komet rookie since Francois Tremblay blanked Indy 4-0 on October 16, 2014.  The Komets are now 28-9-4 versus Indy the past five seasons. The Komets have outscored their opponents 13-5 in the first period this season.  The team is now averaging 3.67 goals for and 2.22 goals against through nine games.  The team is also top in the league only allowing 24 shots per game. Zach Pochiro leads the league in shooting percentage, scoring eight goals on 24 shots.  Shawn Szydlowski added two more assists to his Komets career total over the weekend.  The veteran now has 276 helpers tying him with Hall of Famer Robbie Laird for 13th all-time.  

This week, the Komets will play Friday and Saturday at home versus Wheeling.  The last time the two teams faced each other the Komets swept the Nailers in three straight at the Coliseum February 19th – 21st.  The Komets are 3-0-2 verses Wheeling this season.