Komets win two more at home

Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets continued their mastery of Wheeling with two more wins over the Nailers last weekend. The club has now won four straight and five in a row at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.  The wins give the Komets sole possession of the top spot in the Western Conference and the best winning percentage (.773) in the ECHL, with a record of 7-1-2-1.  The team travels to Indy on Thursday before another weekend series at Wheeling Friday and Saturday. The Komets also announced that the home portion of their 2021-2022 season will begin Saturday, October 23rd verses Wheeling at the Coliseum.

“It is great to start thinking about next season, the 70th anniversary of Komet Hockey and now knowing when we will come together it will be for a more traditional Opening Night. We are all hopeful that things will be back to a more normal, and at full capacity,” said Komet President Michael Franke. 

Last week’s results 

Fri 3/5 vs Wheeling  FW 4 – WHL 2 W

Sat 3/6 vs Wheeling  FW 5 – WHL 3 W

About last week-- Friday, the Komets welcomed the Wheeling Nailers for the first of a two-game series.  The Komets would get power play goals from Spencer Smallman, AJ Jenks and Olivier Galipeau.  Anthony Petruzzelli would extend his home goal scoring streak to four games with an even strength tally at 12:51 of the second period in the 4-2 Komets victory.  Spencer Smallman, Shawn Szydlowski and Randy Gazzola would provide two assists each, while Brandon Hawkins added another. The win marked four straight wins over the Nailers, as the Komets held the visitors to just 21 shots on net. Wheeling would go 0 for 5 on the power play as Stefanos Lekkas picked up the win in goal making 19 saves.  

Saturday night, rookie goaltender Louis-Phillip Guindon took a 109:54 shutout streak into the second game of the series.  The Komets would jump out to a two-goal lead in the first period, with markers from Brandon Hawkins and Shawn Szydlowski, before Wheeling scored at 1:32 of the second period ending Guindon’s shutout streak at 131:26. Spencer Smallman, Jason Cotton and Morgan Adams-Moisan would all put up goals in the 5-3 win. Guindon would finish the game with 19 saves for his third win of the season. Anthony Petruzelli, Spencer Smallman, Randy Gazzola and Matt Boudens also garnered assists in the contest.

For the week-- Spencer Smallman would lead all Komets with seven points (2g 5a) over two games.  Shawn Szydlowski (1g 3a), Anthony Petruzzelli (1g 3a) and Randy Gazzola (4a) would tally four-point weeks.  Brandon Hawkins added a goal and an assist to his season totals, as AJ Jenks, Matt Boudens, Olivier Galipeau and Morgan Adams-Moisan would also receive points.   Both Stefanos Lekkas and Louis-Phillip Guindon gained wins in goal. 

Special K's--The Komets held Wheeling 0-11 on the power play giving the Komets 25 straight penalty kills for an overall top mark of 91.7 percent. The Komets are also tops in the league on the power play, scoring 12 goals on 49 total chances this season.

Komet streaks-- Anthony Petruzzelli has a five-game home point streak.  Spencer Smallman has goals in back-to-back games.  Shawn Szydlowski and Randy Gazzola have assists in two straight games. 

Komet leaders-- Anthony Petruzzelli leads the team with 13 points.  Zach Pochiro has eight goals and Shawn Szydlowski has nine assists.  Anthony Petruzzelli and Spencer Smallman share the top spot with a +8 rating with Morgan Adams-Moisan is leading the team with 25 penalty minutes.  

Icing the puck-- With the two wins last weekend the Komets have now won six straight over the Nailers at the Coliseum dating back to last season.  Over the last five seasons, the Komets are 16-1-0-1 versus the Nailers at home. The Nailers have not bested the Komets in regulation at the Coliseum since April 7, 2018.  The Komets are 6-0-1 when scoring the first goal, and have outscored their opponents 16-6 in first periods this season. Through 11 games the team has only been outshot twice, while holding the opposition to just 23.55 shots per game, tops in the league. The Komets will also enter the week with the top offense, averaging 3.82 goals per game and the best defense, only surrendering 2.27 goals a game. Shawn Szydlowski added two more assists to his Komets career total over the weekend.  The veteran now has 278 breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Robbie Laird for 13th all-time.  

This week, the Komets will play Thursday at Indy looking to make it three in a row over the Fuel. Friday and Saturday the Komets travel to Wheeling.