Komets win fifth straight at home

Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets have now won five straight games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum after defeating Cincinnati for the seventh time on Sunday.  With 16 games remaining in the regular season, the team continues to hold down second place in the Central Division with a record of 30-20-5-1, and a winning percentage of .589.  The Komets will head out on the road next Friday and Saturday with two games at Cincinnati. 

Last week’s results 

Wed. 3/9 at Iowa FW 6 – IA 0 W

Fri. 3/11 at Iowa FW 3 – IA 6 L

Sun. 3/13 vs Cincinnati FW 5 – CIN 2 W

About last week – Wednesday, the Komets traveled to Iowa for the first of two against the Heartlanders.  Drake Rymsha would get the first goal of the night at 11:26 of the first period, and that would be the only score the Komets would need.  Sam Harvey would stop all 34 shots he faced to gain his second shutout of the season.  Rymsha would score again 18:44 of the second period, joining Connor Corcoran with two goals in the contest.  Lynden McCallum and Marcus McIvor would also contribute goals in the 6-0 win. 

Friday, the Komets fell to the Heartlanders.  Iowa would get on the board with a power play goal at 14:24 of the first period.  The Komets would quickly answer just :30 later when Lynden McCallum netted his 12th of the season.  Both teams would score another goal in the period, knotting the game at two after the first 20 minutes of play.  Shawn Szydlowski scored a power play goal at 14:03, with assists from Will Graber and Kellen Jones.  Iowa would tack on two more in the period to take the lead into the second intermission.  Chaos would ensue in the third when the Komets were penalized 14 times, including six misconducts, for game total of 94 minutes. Iowa would score three times in the final period to make the final score 6-3. The Heartlanders were given a total of nine power plays in the game, making good on three of them. Sam Harvey would get loss making 31 saves.  

Sunday, the Komets returned home to face the Cincinnati Cyclones.  After a scoreless first, rookie defenseman Kylor Wall got the Komets on the board with his second goal of the season at 3:04 of the second period.  Connor Jones would give the Komets a 2-0 lead with his seventh of the season at 11:41. The Cyclones scored at 12:04 to make it a 2-1 game.  In the third, Drake Rymsha would continue his torrid pace with two goals. Will Graber would add an empty net goal to give the Komets a 5-2 victory.  Sam Harvey would get credit for the win making 19 saves.  

Komet streaks— The Komets have won five straight at home. Drake Rymsha has goals in the last five games (9). Will Graber has assists in the last six games (9) and helpers in eight straight home games (15). Lynden McCallum has points (2g, 2a) in three straight games. Sam Harvey has started the last five games.

For the week — 

                                                                GP       PT         G           A          +/-

             Drake Rymsha                            3          7          5          2          6

            Will Graber                                3          6          1          5          6          

            Lynden McCallum                     3          4          2          2          4

            Connor Jones                           3          3          1          2          5

            Anthony Petruzzelli                   3          2          0          2          4

            Shawn Szydlowski                    3          2          1          1          1

            Connor Corcoran                      2          2          2          0          0

            Oliver Cooper                            3          2          0          2          -2

            Kellen Jones                            3            2          0          2          -1

            Willie Corrin                             3            2          0          2          3

            Marcus McIvor                         3            1          1          0          4

            Shawn Boudrias                       3            1          0          1          -3

            Blake Siebenaler                      3            1          0          1          2

            Kylor Wall                                3            1          1          0          5

            Zach Tolkinen                          3            1          0          1          1

            Matt Alvaro                              3            0          0          0          -2

            Tyler Busch                             1            0          0          0          0          

Goaltenders

                                    GAA     MIN      SA        GA       SV        W         L          T          OTL      SOL     SV%     SO

 Samuel Harvey             2.67      180      92        8          84        2          1          0          0          0          0.913    1

Special K's— For the week, the Komets skated short-handed 17 times, giving up goals.  On the power play, the club was successful two times on 11 chances.

Komet leaders — 

POINTS:  Will Graber  63

GOALS:   Anthony Petruzzelli 20

ASSISTS:  Will Graber 48

PP GOALS: Anthony Petruzzelli  8

SH GOALS: Oliver Cooper  4

GW GOALS:  Shawn Boudrias 4

SHOTS:  Connor Corcoran 137

PIM:  Matt Alvaro 84

+/- :  Will Graber 31

Icing the puck — The Komets have shutout Iowa three times this season with three different goaltenders (Brkin, Patera, Harvey).  Sam Harvey’s shutout Wednesday at Iowa was the team’s first road shutout since April 17, 2021, when Robbie Beydoun blanked Indy. The Komets now have five shutouts this season. The team has scored 6 or more goals seven times this season. In the last three games with Iowa, the Komets have collected 213 minutes in penalties. The Komets are 24-4-1-0 when scoring four or more goals. The Komets are one of four teams to reach 200 goals scored this season. Cincinnati has now lost five straight at the Coliseum. The Komets current five game home winning streak matches the longest streak of the season. The club ranks third in the league with 14 shorthanded goals. The Komets are one of four teams to reach 20 home wins. The team has scored seven empty net goals. Will Graber leads the league with 48 assists and is tied for the overall scoring lead with 63 points. Graber also leads the league in plus/minus (+31).

Player of the Week Nominations

Drake Rymsha  3gp      7pt       5g        2a        +6

This week—The Komets travel to Cincinnati Friday and Saturday.

Upcoming Promotions

Princess Night, Sunday, March 27th -- Fans (young and old) are encouraged to dress as their favorite princess and participate in an On-Ice Princess Parade during the intermission.  Meet Elsa, Rapunzel and Cinderella before the game from 4:00 p.m.—5:00 p.m. FREE Princess Wands will be handed out before the game. Get Four Upper Arena Tickets for $50 courtesy of Meijer.  Purchase online by March 24th or in person at the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office.