Komets look to rally in game three

Fort Wayne, IN –The Komets look to even up their best-of-seven Central Division Semi-Final playoff series with Wheeling this week.  Last weekend, the team dropped games one and two at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.  The series shifts to Wheeling with game three on Wednesday.

Central Division Semi-Final summary

Game 1: Friday, April 22 at Fort Wayne 0-1 L v WHL

Game 2: Saturday, April 23 at Fort Wayne 2-4 L v WHL

Game 3: Wednesday, April 27 at Wheeling  

Game 4: Friday, April 29 at Wheeling

Game 5: Saturday, April 30 (if necessary) at Wheeling

Game 6: Monday, May 2 (if necessary) at Fort Wayne

Game 7: Tuesday, May 3 (if necessary) at Fort Wayne

About last week – Friday, the Komets' defense of the Kelly Cup started but ended with a 1-0 loss in game one to Wheeling.  The Nailers Patrick Watling scored the contest's lone goal at 19:55 of the first period.  Goaltender Sam Harvey was out-dueled by former Komet Louis-Phillip Guindon.  Harvey finished the game with 22 saves, while Guindon finished with 34 stops.

Official game sheet

Game two back at the Coliseum on Saturday started with ECHL league MVP Will Graber knocking home the team’s first goal of the postseason at 7:33 of the first period. The Nailers countered at 15:35 with a power-play goal from Dylan MacPhearson.  Wheeling got the only tally of the second period making the game 2-1 at the end of forty minutes. The Nailers made it a 3-1 game with a goal at 6:15 of the third period. The Komets battled back to pull within one when Adam Brubacher netted his first playoff goal at 16:50 with assists from Shawn Szydlowski and Blake Siebenaler. Wheeling netted an insurance goal at 18:10 to put the game out of reach. The Komets outshot the Nailers 43 to 28. Sam Harvey once again got tagged with the loss, making 24 saves.

Official game sheet

Icing the puck —  The Komets have come back from being down 0-2 to win a series four times. 1963 versus Muskegon, 2008 versus Port Huron, 2012 versus Missouri, 2016 versus Cincinnati. In 1963, 2008, and 2012 the Komets won the championship. Shawn Szydlowski’s assist in game two was his 50th playoff assist as a Komet.

KOMETS ALL-TIME TOP 10 PLAYOFF SCORING LEADERS

             Player                            GP       G          A          Pts

1          Len Thornson                 92        53         74         127

2          Colin Chaulk                   99        33         69         102

3          Terry McDougall           69         29         66           95

4          Shawn Szydlowski       79         27         50           77

5          Barry Scully                   59        39         34           73

            Eddie Long                   65         34         39           73

6          Colin Chin                     86         39         32           71

7          John Goodwin                52        23         45           68

8          Norm Waslawski            52         32         35           57

            Rob Laird                      59         28         29           57

            Jim Burton                    72         10         47           57

This week— The Komets travel to Wheeling for game three on Wednesday, game four on Friday, and game four if necessary on Saturday.  

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