Komets finish week with OT win

Fort Wayne, IN – After playing four games last week, the Komets finished the week 2-1-1-0.  After a thrilling overtime win Sunday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum over the Indy Fuel, the Komets now sit in third place in the Western Conference with a record of 16-7-3-1 and a winning percentage of .667.  The Komets host Wheeling Friday, then travel to Indy on Saturday and Wheeling on Sunday.  

Last week’s results 

Wed 4/7 @ WHL  FW 3 – WHL 4 OTL

Fri 4/8 @ Indy   FW 4 – Indy 1 W 

Sat 4/9 vs Indy FW 3 – Indy 6 L

Sun 4/10 vs Indy FW 2 – Indy 1 OTW

About last week-- Wednesday, the Komets made the trek to Wheeling to take on the Nailers for the tenth time this season.  Brandon Hawkins scored at 7:35 of the first period on a power play to give the Komets the early lead.  Wheeling would tie it up in the 2nd period at 4:16, until Blake Siebenaler put the Komets back on top two minutes later.  Wheeling would again knot the game at 7:45 of the third.  Jackson Leef would score less than a minute later to give the Komets the lead for the third time.  AJ Jenks took at tripping minor at 18:49, the Nailers would score on the ensuing power play to send the contest to extra time tied 3-3.  In overtime, the Komets would only muster one shot on net before the Nailers netted the game winner at 1:41.  In his third start as a Komet, Jeremy Helvig took the loss making 15 saves on 19 shots.  

Friday, the Komets continued on the road with a game in Indy.  Goaltender Stefanos Lekkas started his first game with the Komets since March 2nd.  The Komets would be outshot 34-28 in the contest, but still bested the Fuel.  Anthony Nellis scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at 12:04 of the first period.  Indy would get the equalizer early in the second period at 4:36. Zach Pochiro would put the Komets back on top with his 12th goal of the season at 16:58.  In the third, Jackson Leef and AJ Jenks would score to make the final tally 4-1. Lekkas would get the win for his fifth straight making 33 saves.

Saturday night, the Komets returned home to take on the Fuel.  After falling behind 2-0 after the first 20 minutes of play, Morgan Adams-Moisan got the Komets on the board at 2:43 of the 2nd period.  Indy would tack on one more in the second.  Justin Vaive scored a power play goal at 17:09 to pull the Komets within one going into the 3rd period.  The Fuel would add two more to their goal total before Anthony Nellis scored his fifth of the season at 8:57. Indy would score an empty net goal at 18:32 to give the Fuel a 6-3 victory. Stefanos Lekkas gave up five goals in the loss. The Komets outshot Indy 46-20.  

The rubber match of the three-game series with Indy was played Sunday at the Coliseum.  Both teams skated to a scoreless stalemate for 67:09 when Indy would break the deadlock in the third period.  Indy would take a slashing minor at 18:01 giving the Komets their fifth power play of the game.  With starting goaltender Dylan Ferguson pulled for the extra skater, captain AJ Jenks would score from the faceoff circle to tie the game with 20 seconds remaining, eventually sending the game to overtime.  The Komets would take the 2-1 win after defenseman Olivier Galipeau scored the game winner at 2:14 of overtime.  The Komets outshot the Fuel 39-14 and did not allow a shot on net in overtime.  Dylan Ferguson would get the win making 13 saves.

For the week— Rookie Stephan Harper played in all four games last week and finished with four points (1g, 3a). Anthony Nellis would put up three points (2g, 1a).  Zach Pochiro, Shawn Szydlowski, Jackson Leef, Olivier Galipeau, Blake Siebenaler, Randy Gazzola, AJ Jenks, Marcus McIvor, and Justin Vaive all finished the week with two points.  Nick Boka, Matt Murphy, Marco Roy, Matt Boudens, Brandon Hawkins, Anthony Petruzzelli, and Morgan Adams-Moisan all added one point to their totals.  The Komets would use three goaltenders over four games, with Stefanos Lekkas getting two of the four starts.  Lekkas would go 1-1, giving up six goals on 56 shots. Jeremy Helvig would get tagged with an overtime loss, making 15 saves on 19 shots.  Dylan Ferguson would win his only start of the week, giving up one goal on 14 shots.

Special K's— The Komets scored three power play goals on 14 advantages last week.  The club now has 31 power play goals to lead the league in power play efficiency scoring at a rate of 28.2 percent. Brandon Hawkins leads the team with eight power play goals. The Komets skated shorthanded a total of 16 times this past week, killing off 13 power plays. 

Komet streaks— Brandon Hawkins has point in five straight road games.

Komet leaders—

POINTS:  Hawkins 24

GOALS:   Hawkins 15

ASSISTS: Gazzola 18

PP GOALS: Hawkins  8

SH GOALS: Smallman 3

GW GOALS:  Pochiro, Petruzzelli, Galipeau, Hawkins, Harper 2

SHOTS: Hawkins 106

PIM: Szydlowski 51

+/- : McIvor +8

Icing the puck— The Komets continue to lead the league in shots against, only giving up 23.11 per game. 14 times this season the Komets have held their opponents to less than 25 shots.  Indy was limited to one shot in the second period Saturday night. That marked the second time this season the Komets allowed only one shot in a period.  The Komets have only been outshot four times this season.  With AJ Jenks late goal Sunday night, the Komets avoided be shutout at home for the first time since February 24, 2013, when the team lost to Wheeling 1-0.  The Komets are 3-3-0-1 in overtimes this season.  The Komets have not lost in overtime at home since December 21, 2019 versus Cincinnati.

This week, The Komets will host the Wheeling Nailers Friday, then travel to Indy for a Saturday tilt with the Fuel and then to Wheeling for a Sunday game.