Komets climb to 2nd place in Central

Fort Wayne, IN – After a weekend sweep of Utah, the Komets have moved back to second place in the Central Division, with a mark of 12-8-1-2, for 27 points. The team will start a four-game road stretch on Thursday in Iowa before returning home to face Norfolk on December 29 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum at 8:00 p.m.

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Fri. 12/15 vs Utah FW 5 – Utah 2 W

Sat.12/16 vs Utah FW 3 – Utah 2 W

Sun.12/17 vs Utah FW 6 – Utah 3 W

About last week –  The Komets hosted Utah in the first game of a three-game series at the Coliseum on Friday night. Alexis D’Aoust opened the scoring with a goal at 1:45 of the first period, assisted by Xavier Cormier and Cam Supryka. Cormier netted his first of the season at 13:02 to make the game 2-0 at the end of the first period. Cormier struck again with his second of the match at 11:43 of the second to give the Komets a 3-0 lead until Utah’s Tyler Penner scored at 16:41 to make it 3-1. D’Aoust pushed the lead back up to three with a goal at 19:01. In the third period, Matt Wedman knocked home his 10th of the season on a power play with assists from Jack Dugan and Connor Corcoran. Utah added a tally late to make the final score 5-2. Tyler Parks got the win in goal, making 26 saves.

GAME SHEET

On Saturday, Matt Wedman and Shawn Szydlowski scored power-play goals to give the Komets a 2-0 lead after the first period. Utah’s Brandon Cutler netted a goal 36 seconds into the second period to make the game 2-1, but Captain Morgan (Adams-Moisan) earned his ninth goal of the season at 9:28 to push the lead up to two. Cutler stuck again at :56 of the third period to make the game 3-2. Goaltender Brett Brochu made seven saves in the third period to solidify the win.

GAME SHEET

In the series finale on Sunday, the Komets skated away with a 6-3 win. Carl Berglund scored the first goal of the game at 2:16 of the first period, followed by a Nolan Volcan score at 14:55. Jack Dugan scored at 17:28 on a power play with assists from Matt Wedman and Connor Corcoran to make the score 3-0 after the first period. In the second, Berglund and Shawn Szydlowski scored markers to make the game 5-0. Utah rallied with three unanswered goals to get the game to 5-3 in the third period. Berglund completed the hat trick with an empty net goal at 19:45, as goaltender Tyler Parks notched his second-weekend win, making 32 saves. The Komets scored three power-play goals.

GAME SHEET

Komet streaks— 

Points: 4 games, Corcoran (5a) 3 games, Wedman (2g, 6a), 2 games, D’Aoust (2g, 3a), 2 games, Szydlowski (2g, 1a)

Assists: 4 games, Corcoran (5a)

Home Points: 2 games, D’Aoust (2g, 3a), 2 games, Szydlowski (2g, 1a)

Home Assists: 3 games, Corcoran (4a)

Wins (goaltender): Tyler Parks, (3)

Komet leaders—

Points: 25, Dugan (6g, 19a)

Goals: 11, Wedman

Assists: 19, Dugan

Power Play Goals: 4, Linden, Wedman

Short-Handed Goals: 1, Dugan, Gorniak

Game Winning Goals: 2, Berglund

Shots: 78, D’Aoust

PIM: 47, Dugan 

Plus/Minus: +13, Bernard

Home Points: 12, Dugan (1g, 11a)

Home Goals: 7, Wedman

Home Assists: 11, Dugan 

Road Points: 12, Dugan (4g, 8a) 

Road Goals: 4, Linden 

Road Assists: 8, Dugan

Goaltenders

Appearances: 14, Parks

Wins: 7, Parks

Saves: 445, Parks

Goals against Avg: 2.16, Brochu

Save percentage: .936, Brochu

Special K’s –The Komets scored six power play goals on 15 chances. The club skated short-handed 14 times giving up two goals.

Next week – The Komets travel to Iowa for a three game series starting Thursday. 

Icing the puck —  The Komets never trailed in the three wins versus Utah. Friday night, the Komets registered 45 shots on goal, the most in a game this season. Tyler Parks earned his third season assist in the win on Friday. He is now halfway to the team record of six by Murry Bannerman ’77-’78. Matt Wedman gained four assists on Sunday; he’s the first Komet to have four assists in a game since Will Graber on February 19, 2022, in a 4-2 win versus Tulsa. Carl Berglund’s hat trick on Sunday was the second for the Komets this season. Also on Sunday, three Komets registered four points (Berglund 3g, 1a), (Wedman 4a), (Dugan 1g, 3a). Komets are tops in the league on the power play at home (30.2%). Shawn Szydlowski is now two points away from 500 regular season points as a Komet.

Upcoming Promotions

Kids Seat Free Friday, December 29 --  Receive a free kids ticket courtesy of Lutheran Health Network and Aunt Millie's with the purchase of any regular-priced adult ticket!  Visit the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office to take advantage of this offer.

Annual New Year’s Eve Game, Sunday, December 31 -- Kick off your New Year's Eve Celebration with the Komets!  Puck Drop is set for 7:30 p.m. leaving you plenty of time to get to where you need to be to watch the ball drop after the game.  A large crowd is expected for this fan favorite event, so get your tickets early!

Komet Hockey on WOWO—Fans can follow the action with Shane Albahrani broadcasting play-by-play on WOWO AM 1190 and FM 92.3 FM. 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