Komets close in on first place

Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets captured a win over Indy on Sunday night, followed by a come-from-behind victory over Cincinnati on Monday to pull within a point of first place in the Central Division.  After the two wins, the club is now 9-2-3 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.  Overall, the team has a record of 15-7-3, with a total of 33 points.  The Komets seven game homestand will conclude with a New Year’s Eve tilt with the expansion Iowa Heartlanders, and a battle with Toledo on Wednesday, January 5th. 

Last week’s results 

Sun 12/26 vs Indy FW 6 – IND 4 W

Mon 12/27 vs Cincinnati  FW 5 – CIN 4 OTW

About last week – Sunday night, the Indy Fuel visited Fort Wayne for the first time this season.  The Komets jumped on the board early with a tally from Matthew Barnaby just 4:27 into the contest.  Will Graber took a Shawn Szydlowski pass at 9:56 to net his eighth goal of the season to put the Komets up 2-0.  Indy would get a goal on the power play at 14:31 to make it a 2-1 game at the end of the first twenty minutes.  Matt Alvaro, Szydlowski, and Nick Jermain would all score to give the Komets a four goal cushion at the midway point of the second period.  Indy would rattle off two scores to end the second period to cut the lead to 5-3.  In the third, Indy’s Jared Thomas would get the Fuel within one with a goal at 11:09.  Graber would put the game away with an empty net goal at 19:35. Jiri Patera would get the win, making 30 saves.

Monday night, the Komets successfully completed an epic comeback to defeat Cincinnati 5-4 in overtime.  The Cyclones would score three goals on eight shots in the first period.  The visitors would add another goal on the power play at 11:45 of the second period to push the game to 4-0.  The Komets comeback would begin at 13:31 of the second period when Mathew Barnaby scored his fourth of the season with assists from Nick Jermain and Connor Corcoran.  While skating shorthanded in the third period, Anthony Petruzzelli would score his seventh of the season with an assist from Kellen Jones to make it a 4-2 game.  At 12:03, Matt Alvaro scored his seventh of the season to pull the Komets within in one.  With Komet goaltender Baily Brkin on the bench for the extra skater, Corcoran ripped a shot over the shoulder of Cincinnati goalie Mat Robson to tie the game at four, eventually sending the contest to overtime.  In the extra frame, Komet rookie Shawn Boudrias would knock home a rebound off a shot from Petruzzelli to give the Komets the win.  Brkin would get his first win as a Komet, making 20 saves.

Last two games — 

                                                 GP         PT        G         A          +/-        

            Shawn Szydlowski        2          4          1          3          1

            Matt Alvaro                   2          4          2          2          1

            Kellen Jones                 2          3          0          3          2

            Will Graber                   1          3          2          1          1

            Connor Corcoran          2          3          1          2          2

            Zach Tolkinen               2          2          0          2          2

            Matthew Barnaby          2          2          2          0          1

            Nick Jermain                 2          2          1          1          0

            Oliver Cooper               2          2          0          2          3

            Anthony Petruzzelli       2          2          1          1          0

            Jiri Patera                     1          1          0          1          0

            Tyler Busch                  2          1          0          1          2

            Marcus McIvor              2          1          0          1          1

            Shawn Boudrias            2          1          1          0          1

          Goaltenders          

         Bailey Brkin    3.70GAA     1gp      20sv      1w        0.833 sv%        

         Jiri Patera       4.00GAA     1gp      30sv      1w        0.882 sv%        

Special K's — Over the past two games, the Komets scored two power play goals on seven opportunities, while giving up three power play goals to their opponents on eight total chances. 

Komets streaks – Kellen Jones has points (1g, 3a) in three straight games. 

Komet leaders— 

POINTS:  Will Graber  23

GOALS:   Will Graber 9

ASSISTS:  Will Graber 14

Kellen Jones  14

PP GOALS: Jameson Milam  2

Matt Alvaro  2

SH GOALS: Kellen Jones  2

GW GOALS:  Kellen Jones 3

SHOTS:  Connor Corcoran 73

PIM:  Chays Ruddy 37

+/- :  Kellen Jones 18

Icing the puck — Jiri Patera had an assist Sunday night, marking the third assist by a Komet goaltender this season. The Komets are now 10-0-0 when leading after two periods and 10-3-3 when scoring first. Shawn Szydlowski and Nick Jermain scored :28 apart Sunday night making them the fastest two goals of the season. The two power play goals scored Sunday was the most in one game this season.  Matt Alvaro and Connor Corcoran had three points in the comeback win over Cincinnati on Monday. 12 times a Komet has had three or more points in a game so far this season.  The five goals scored Monday was the second time the team has scored five unanswered goals in game. Monday was the Komets first overtime win.  The Komets have outscored their opponents 31-17 in the third period. 

This week —The Komets host Iowa on Friday.