Komets take home two more wins

Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets gained two more victories over Indy and Jacksonville last week, but dropped the weekend finale to the Wheeling Nailers. After 23 games, the Komets sit on top of the Western Conference (14-6-2-1), with a winning percentage of .674.  The team will play four games next week, Wednesday at Wheeling, Friday at Indy, then two games versus the Fuel at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Saturday and Sunday.

Last week’s results 

Wed 3/31 @ Indy FW 6 – Indy 3 W

Fri 4/2 vs Jacksonville FW 5 – Jacksonville 4 W 

Sat 4/3 vs Wheeling FW 3 – Wheeling 6 L

About last week-- Wednesday, Brandon Hawkins would score four goals as the Komets rallied in the third period for a 6-3 win over the Fuel in Indy.  The team trailed 3-2 in the third frame until Hawkins netted the game tying goal at the 10:00 mark to give him the hat trick.  Morgan Adams-Moisan would score the eventual game winner just 1:17 later.  Hawkins would add another goal at 18:51 and Anthony Nellis would punch in an empty netter at 19:10 to give the Komets four goals in the third period.  AJ Jenks would finish with three assists, while the team peppered the net with 43 shots and giving up only 18.  Dylan Ferguson would bring home his third straight win, making 15 saves. 

Friday night, the Komets would need another four goal third period performance to topple the Jacksonville Icemen.  Randy Gazzola got the scoring going with his first goal of the season at 9:30 for the only score of the first period.  The Icemen would put up three goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the third.  Marco Roy would start the comeback at 1:14, while Nick Boka and Mathieu Brodeur add goals to even the game.  The Icemen would take a slashing minor at 6:43 and Brandon Hawkins would score his 14th of the season on the ensuing power play to give the Komets the win.  Goaltender Louis-Phillip Guindon would turn away 23 shots for the win.

The Wheeling Nailers visited the Komets for the sixth time this season on Saturday getting their first win on Coliseum ice 6-3.  Blake Siebenaler, Matt Murphy and Matt Boudens would all score goals, while Jackson Leef, Anthony Petruzzelli, Anthony Nellis and Randy Gazzolla would tally assists.  Dylan Ferguson would leave the game in the third period after being injured by an elbow from Wheeling’s Josh Winquist.  Jeremy Helvig would come in relief giving up one goal on four shots.  Ferguson would get tagged with the loss with four goals against on 15 shots.

For the week— Brandon Hawkins scored five goals and added an assist for a six-point week.  Captain AJ Jenks would add five assists, while Zach Pochiro would contribute four helpers.  Marco Roy, Anthony Nellis, Randy Gazzola and Matt Boudens would all add a goal and an assist.  Rookie Defenseman Marcus McIvor tallied two assists.  Blake Siebenaler, Matt Murphy, Morgan Adams-Moisan, Mathieu Brodeur and Nick Boka would all score goals.  Stephen Harper, Shawn Szydlowski and Jackson Leef added assists.  In net, Dylan Ferguson started two games, going 1-1 giving up seven goals on 33 shots.  Louis-Phillip Guindon would win his only start of the week, making 23 saves on 27 shots.  Jeremy Helvig would receive 14:48 minutes of relief duty, giving up one goal on four shots.

Special K's—The Komets did not allow a power play goal this past weekend.  The team’s PK streak now sits at nine straight, allowing them to retake the top spot in the league at 87.8 percent. The Komets power play would score four times on twelve total chances over the three games keeping them on top of the league PP rankings scoring at a rate of 28.1 percent.

Komet streaks— Randy Gazzola has registered points in his last seven home games.

Komet leaders— Anthony Petruzzelli, Matt Boudens, Justin Vaive, Olivier Galipeau and Blake Siebenaler have appeared in all 23 games this season.  Hawkins leads the team with 23 points (14g, 9a).  Hawkins also leads in goals scored with 14 including seven power play goals.  Randy Gazzola has the team lead with 16 assists.  Anthony Petruzzelli and Marcus McIvor lead the team with a +6 rating.  Morgan Adams-Moisan leads the team with 40 penalty minutes.  Stefanos Lekkas has six wins with a GAA of 1.96 before being loaned to Rochester of the AHL. 

Icing the puck—Brandon Hawkins’ Texas hat trick Wednesday night in Indy was the first time a Komet had lit the lamp four times in a game since Shawn Szydlowski accomplished the feat back on December 27, 2016 in a game versus Indy.  Wednesday night, the Komets only allowed 18 shots on net, the fewest in one game so far this season.  Five out of the 14 goals scored by the Komets last weekend were credited to defensemen. Three times this season the team have scored four goals in one period.  The Komets are 8-2-0 at home, 9-1-1 when scoring the first goal and they are out scoring the opposition 28-19 in the first period.  The Komets also lead the league in shot against giving up just 23.35 per game. The team has only been outshot three times this season. 

This week, the Komets will head to Wheeling on Wednesday and Indy on Friday, before returning home for two games against the Fuel, Saturday and Sunday.