Komets collect three more wins

Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets collected two wins versus Kalamazoo and another from Tulsa last week to push the team’s win total to 25 with 24 games remaining. The club travels to Iowa this week before returning to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Wednesday March 2nd against Tulsa.

Last week’s results

Wed. 2/16 vs Kalamazoo FW 6 – KAL 3 W

Fri. 2/18 vs Toledo FW 3 – TOL 6 L

Sat. 2/19 vs Tulsa FW 4 – TUL 2 W

Sun. 2/20 vs Kalamazoo FW 5 – KAL 2 W

About last week – Wednesday night, the Komets entertained the Kalamazoo Wings for the fourth time this season and handed their Central Division rival another loss. The Komets took 41 shots, with six of them finding the back of the net.  Will Graber, Tyler Busch, and Kellen Jones all lit the lamp, and Oliver Cooper’s two shorthanded goals lead the way in the 6-3 win.  Cooper would finish the game with three points.  Former Komet Trevor Gorsuch would start the game in goal for Kalamazoo, but would not finish the contest, getting the hook after the second period after giving up six goals on 28 shots.  Justin Pawloski would enter in relief and stopped 13 third-period shots.  Sam Harvey would get the win, making 31 saves.   

Friday night, the Toledo Walleye came to town and left with a 6-3 win.  Anthony Petruzzelli scored just :11 into the contest to give the Komets an early 1-0 lead.  Toledo would erase the deficit with two goals in the second half of the period to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.  Lynden McCallum would nab a power-play goal at :13 of the second period to knot the game at two.  Toledo would rattle off two goals in the second period and another in the third to take a commanding 5-2 lead.  The Komets would edge closer when Zach Pochiro scored his eighth of the season at 12:45, but the Walleye would counter with a goal at 19:14 to make the final score 6-3.  Willie Corrin collected three assists in the game, while Sam Harvey took the loss in net making 36 saves.

The Tulsa Oilers visited the Coliseum on Saturday for the first time since 2020.  Mario Culina would get his first start in goal since January 30. The rookie turned away 39 Tulsa shots to gain the victory.  After a scoreless first period, Marcus McIvor would be set up by Lynden McCallum and Will Graber to net the first goal of the game at 5:44 of the second period. Tulsa tied the game at 6:50 only to have McCallum score just eight seconds later to reclaim the lead for the host team. In the third, Tulsa would tie the game at 1:02.  The Komets would take a delay of game penalty at 2:14 and on the ensuing penalty kill, Conner Jones would score his fifth of the season to retake the lead.  Anthony Petruzzelli would add an insurance goal at 7:16 on the power play to make the final score 4-2.  Graber would finish the game with four assists.

The weekend would conclude Sunday with a rematch with the Kalamazoo Wings on Sweetwater ice. The Komets would take advantage of two early power plays and score twice to put the club up 2-0 at the end of the first twenty minutes.  Raymond Brice and Tanner Sorenson would get markers in the second period to even up the game.  Will Graber would set up Lynden McCallum for his tenth of the season at 17:34 to put the Komets ahead.  In the final frame, Shawn Szydlowski would score on a power play, with assists from Zach Pochiro and Willie Corrin at 13:34.  Pochiro would clinch the win with a tally at 16:41 to make the final score 5-2.  Sam Harvey claimed the win making 35 saves. The Komets went 2 of 2 on the power play. 

Komet streaks— Anthony Petruzzelli has points in six straight games (3g, 3a). Conner Jones has two goals and five assists over his last five games played. Will Graber has points in four straight games (2g, 7a). Lynden McCallum also has points over the last four games (3g, 3a) and Shawn Szydlowski has points in the last four road games (3g, 5a)

Special K's— For the week, the Komets scored five power-play goals on 10 chances.  The club skated shorthanded 15 times, killing off 12 power plays and scoring three shorthanded goals.

Komet leaders —

POINTS:  Will Graber  53

GOALS:   Anthony Petruzzelli 18

ASSISTS:  Will Graber 39

PP GOALS: Anthony Petruzzelli  7

SH GOALS: Oliver Cooper  3

GW GOALS:  Shawn Boudrias 3

SHOTS:  Anthony Petruzzelli 117

PIM:  Zach Tolkinen 69

+/- :  Will Graber 24

Icing the puck —   Oliver Cooper scored two shorthanded goals on the same shift Wednesday.  The last time a Komet had two shorthanded goals in a game was Spencer Smallman on February 27, 2021, at Indy.  The last time a Komet scored two goals on the same penalty kill was Phelix Martineau on November 7, 2018, at Rapid City.  The club was assessed only six minutes in penalties on Wednesday.  It was the sixth time this season the team had six minutes or less in a game.  The fewest in a game this season was two minutes on December 10, at Kalamazoo.  Cooper’s back-to-back goals on Wednesday were the seventh time a Komet had scored two consecutive goals in a game. Friday night, Anthony Petruzzelli’s goal :11 into the contest was the quickest to start a game this season.  The record for the fastest goal to start a game was set on January 31, 1971, when Jim Hrycuik scored at the 6-second mark in a game versus Des Moines. Will Graber was credited with four assists in the 4-2 win over Tulsa on Saturday night.  That was the second time this season Graber has had four helpers in a game.  He leads the league in assists with 39 in 35 games played. The last time a Komet tallied five assists in a game was Shawn Szydlowski on March 12, 2016, at Alaska. Conner Jones’ shorthanded goal Saturday was the Komets eleventh of the season. Cooper leads the team with three. Sunday’s win versus Kalamazoo was the fifth of the season over the Wings at the Coliseum.  Keaton Jameson scored his first pro point Sunday. Petruzzelli leads the team with 18 goals, setting a new career-high. Szydlowski needs 18 more points to reach 500 in his Komets career.                                                 

This week—The Komets travel to Iowa for the first time this Friday and Saturday.

Upcoming Promotions

Season Ticket Exchange Night, Wednesday, March 2nd  -- All season ticket holders can exchange their unused season tickets for extra tickets.  Exchange your tickets at the Coliseum ticket office.

Komet Hockey on WOWO-- Fans can follow the action with Shane Albahrani broadcasting play-by-play on WOWO AM 1190 and FM 107.5. Game broadcasts are also streamed live at Komets.com. 

Get Komet Tickets—Tickets are available for all Komet home games at the Memorial Coliseum ticket office and Ticketmaster.com