Komets battle for first place

Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets fell twice last week as they head into their final regular season home series this weekend against first place Wichita.  After 42 games, the Komets are in second place in the ECHL’s Western Conference, with a record of 25-13-3-1 and a winning percentage of .643. Wichita ended the week with a winning percentage of .667.  The two clubs will play Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Wed 5/12 vs WHL FW 3 – WHL 4 L 

Fri 5/14 vs WHL FW 2 – WHL 1 W 

Sun 5/16 vs Indy FW 0 – Indy 1 L

About last week-- The Komets played their first Wednesday game of the season, falling 4-3 versus the Wheeling Nailers at the Coliseum. The game was scoreless until 9:15 of the first period when Wheeling’s Jesse Lees scored to give the Nailers a 1-0 lead.  The two teams traded goals in the second period, starting with Justin Vaive, getting the Komets even at 6:29. The Nailers would add to their total at 11:38 with a power play goal, only to have Alan Lyszczarczyk tie the game 2-2 on a power play at 14:20.  The Komets would take their only lead of the game when Marco Roy scored at the 9:23 mark of the third period.  The Nailers would knot the game at three with a goal at 15:24, with the game winner coming at 17:36. The two teams would combine for 89 penalty minutes, resulting in four power plays for Wheeling and seven for the Komets.  Goaltender Robbie Beydoun took his first loss of the season, making 22 saves on 26 shots. 

Friday night, the season series concluded with Wheeling. The Nailers would register the first goal of the game at 14:21 of the first period to take the lead.  In the second, Marco Roy would score to tie the game before rookie Stephen Harper netted his ninth of the season at 7:45 to give the Komets the lead.  Goaltender, Dylan Ferguson, would make the lead stand up in the third, turning away 14 shots in the period to hang on for the 2-1 win.  Randy Gazzola would finish the game with two assists. Ferguson made 25 saves,

Sunday, the Indy Fuel visited Fort Wayne for the eighth and final time this season.  Indy goaltender Sean Romeo stunned the Komets making 33 saves for the 1-0 shutout win.  Dylan Ferguson would give up the game’s only goal at 16:25 of the first period.  

For the week— Defenseman, Randy Gazzola, finished with three assists. Marco Roy scored two goals and Anthony Nellis dished two assists. Justin Vaive scored once and added an assist. Alan Lyszczarczyk and Stephen Harper scored one goal, while Mathieu Brodeur, Marcus McIvor, Olivier Galipeau, and Zach Pochiro all added an assist. Dylan Ferguson would get two starts in net, going 1-1 while giving up just two goals on 48 shots for a save percentage of .958.  Robbie Beydoun gave up four goals on 26 shots in his only start of the week going 0-1.

Special K's— Last week, the Komets scored one power play goal on 13 total advantages.  Friday night’s game versus Wheeling snapped a 10-game streak for the Komets of scoring at least one power play goal.  The Komets went 11 of 12 killing penalties.  The team still has the top power play unit in the league, scoring on 26.9 of their chances.  The Komets are the best in the league killing penalties at home at 93.3 percent.

Komet leaders—

Points:  Hawkins 31

Goals:   Hawkins 19

Assists: Gazzola 25

PP Goals: Hawkins  10

SH Goals: Smallman 3

GW Goals:  Petruzzelli 4

                      Harper 4

Shots: Hawkins 126

PIM: Adams-Moisan 99

+/- : Petruzzelli +13

Milestones– Wednesday night, defenseman, Mathieu Brodeur, skated in his 600th professional game.  Justin Vaive scored his 100thECHL goal on Wednesday as well.  

Icing the puck— The Komets and Nailers combined for 89 penalty minutes Wednesday. The 43 penalty minutes assessed to the Komets that night was the most for the Komets in a single game this season. The Komets concluded their season series with Wheeling with a record of 13-4-2-1.  The team is 35-15-6-1 all-time versus the Nailers. Indy’s shutout of the Komets Sunday was the first time the team had been blanked at home since February 24, 2013 versus Wheeling. Entering the final three home games of the season, the Komets are 15-6-0 at the Coliseum and have outscored the opposition 81-52. The team is 10-0 at home when holding the lead after the first period, and 11-0 with the lead after two periods. The Komets will enter the week with the top offense in the league, scoring 3.48 goals per game, along with the best defense, giving up 2.60 goals per game.

This week, the Komets will play at home versus Wichita on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.