Komets claim playoff spot

Fort Wayne, IN – With two games remaining in the regular season, the Komets have claimed second place in the Central Division with a 35-25-6-1 record and have secured home ice for the first round of the playoffs. The team will start the defense of the Kelly Cup Friday, April 22nd at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 23rd at 7:30 p.m. against the third-place finisher in the Central Division at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The first-round playoff format has yet to be determined. Tickets for games one and two will go on sale Tuesday, April 12, at 10:00 a.m. The Komets have participated in a postseason tournament 60 times in the franchises’ 70 seasons. 

Current ECHL Standings

Last week’s results

Wed. 4/6 vs Toledo  FW 5 – TOL 3 W

Fri. 4/8 at Toledo FW 2 – TOL 6 L

Sat. 4/9 vs Kalamazoo FW 5 – KAL 4 W

Sun. 4/10 vs Kalamazoo FW 1 – KAL 2 L

About last week – Wednesday, the Komets hosted Toledo. League-leading scorer, Will Graber, put the Komets on the board first with his 26th goal at 7:49 of the first period. Toledo's Quinn Preston countered with his first goal of the season at 11:30. Komet defenseman Willie Corrin teamed up with rookies Brad Kennedy and Shawn Boudrias, netting a goal at 15:25 to give the Komets the lead. The visiting Walleye wasted little time tying the score in the second period when veteran TJ Hensick notched a goal :46 into the period. Zach Pochiro and captain Anthony Petruzzelli each punch home a score, while Brandon Hawkins victimized his former team with a power-play goal at 17:21. The Komets carried a 4-3 into the final stanza. Rookie Adam Brubacher netted an insurance goal at 14:27 to secure the 5-3 win. Sam Harvey made 26 saves as the Komets finished with 42 shots.

Friday night, the regular-season series finale went to the Walleye 6-2 at the Coliseum. Toledo scored the first goal at 5:19 of the first and did not relinquish the lead. Matt Alvaro scored goals at 7:54 and 14:13 of the first period. With the game tied at two, the Walleye scored the next four.  Goaltender Sam Harvey started the game but got the hook after giving up five goals on 12 shots. Rookie Jordan Papirny made his Komet debut in relief, stopping 14 of 15 shots.   

Saturday, Kalamazoo pounced on Jordan Papirny early in the first period with a goal from Logan Lambdin at 5:44. 

Lynden McCallum struck in the first and again in the second period to give the Komets their first lead of the game. Lambdin got the Wings even with his second of the match at 8:32 of the second period. Matt Alvaro scored his 20th of the season, followed by Kalamazoo's Olivier LeBlanc, netting his first pro goal to tie the score at three after two periods. In the third, McCallum completed the hat trick with a goal at 9:51. Alvaro tallied another one to put the game out of reach. The Wings got a late goal to make the final score 5-4. Anthony Petruzzelli finished with three assists. Papirny gained the victory by making 26 saves.

The week concluded with the final regular-season match against the Kalamazoo Wings. After a scoreless first period, Kalamazoo netted the first goal at 11:22 of the second period. The game remained 1-0 until Kalamazoo's Kyle Blaney buried an empty-net goal at 18:38. The Komets broke up the shutout when rookie Brad Kennedy scored his first professional goal at 19:00. Goaltender Trevor Gorsuch would backstop the Wing's victory making 34 saves. Sam Harvey was tagged with the loss for the Komets, making 31 saves. 

Komet streaks— Brad Kennedy has points in three straight games (1g, 2a)

Special K's— The Komets scored one power-play goal on seven total chances.  The team successfully killed eight power plays while giving up three goals.

Komet leaders —

POINTS:  Will Graber  83

GOALS:   Anthony Petruzzelli, Will Graber 26

ASSISTS:  Will Graber 57

PP GOALS: Anthony Petruzzelli  9

SH GOALS: Oliver Cooper  4

GW GOALS:  Shawn Boudrias, Will Graber, Kellen Jones 4

SHOTS:  Will Graber 175

PIM:  Oliver Cooper 92

+/- :  Will Graber 36

Icing the puck -  Since 1952, the Komets have only missed the playoffs nine times. 36 times this season, a Komet has scored two or more goals in a game. Will Graber leads the team with five multi-goal games, followed by Lynden McCallum and Drake Rymsha with four. Eight times this season, Graber has had three or more points in a game. Heading into the final week of the regular season, Graber leads the league in points (83), assists (57), plus-minus (+36). McCallum’s hat trick on Saturday was the fourth of the season for the team. The Komets are 18-12-1 following a loss. Saturday night, neither the Komets nor Kalamazoo played with a man advantage, marking just the seventh time since joining the ECHL the Komets did not have a power play in a game. It was just the third time a Komet opponent did not have a power play. The club has the third-most penalty minutes in the league (1196). Anthony Petruzzelli has played in 249 consecutive regular season games with the Komets. 

This week—The Komets travel to Wheeling on Friday before hosting the Nailers on Saturday.

See Komets Schedule  See Komets Roster

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