Komets maintain 2nd place in Central

Fort Wayne, IN – After taking two of three in Iowa last weekend, the Komets have won five out of the previous six games and currently sit in second place, just six points back of first-place Toledo. The team will go to Kalamazoo and Indy while hosting Norfolk on Friday and Toledo on New Year’s Eve at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Fri. 12/21 at Iowa FW 2 – Iowa 4 L

Sat.12/22 at Iowa FW 6 – Iowa 2 W

Sun.12/23 at Iowa FW 4 – Iowa 1 W

About last week – The Komets traveled to Iowa for the only time this season. In the first game of a three-game set, the Heartlanders took a 1-0 lead into the second period. Komet forward Xavier Cormier got his team even with a strike at 3:22, followed by a Matt Wedman score at 13:31 to give the Komets the lead. The one-goal cushion was short-lived as the Heartlanders evened the score at two with 1:10 left. In the third period, Iowa’s Nick Campoli scored on the power-play to give Iowa its first lead. Down by a goal, the Komets pulled goaltender Brett Brochu for the extra skater, leaving the net empty and leading to the Heartlanders scoring at 19:35 to make the final score 4-2. Brochu made 34 saves in the loss.

GAME SHEET

On Saturday, five different Komets found the back of the net as the Komets cruised to a 6-2 victory. Alexis D’Aoust started the scoring at 8:51. Rookie Jack Gorniak netted his second shorthanded goal of the season at 14:07 to give the Komets a 2-0 game. With the Komets skating a man down, Iowa pulled within in one with a power play goal at 15:40, followed by Morgan Adams-Moisan scoring his 10th of the season right before the intermission to make it 3-1. Coming out of the break, Adams-Moisan struck again under a minute into the second stanza, chasing Iowa’s starting goaltender Drew DeRidder from the game. With Peyton Jones in goal, the Heartlanders grabbed the momentum with a goal at 2:44. The Komets promptly snuffed out the counter-attack as Nolan Volcan nabbed his sixth goal of the season at 8:16 to make it a three-goal game. In the third, veteran Shawn Szydlowski took a pass from Volcan and blasted it past Jones for his second point of the night for his 500th regular season Komet point. Goaltender Tyler Parks won his fourth straight decision, stopping 31 shots.

GAME SHEET

After giving up the game's first goal in Saturday's series finale, the Komets rattled off four unanswered goals to win. Nolan Volcan, Ture Linden, Morgan-Adams Moisan, and Matt Wedmen all scored in support of goaltender Brett Brochu's 32-save performance. The game became a physical contest as seven misconducts were handed down for 98 combined penalty minutes.

GAME SHEET

Komet streaks— 

Points: 6 games, Wedman (4g, 8a), 4 games, Dugan (1g, 8a), 2 games, Szydlowski (1g, 2a)

Goals: 2 games, Volcan (2g), Adams-Moisan (3g)

Assists: 3 games, Dugan (8a)

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

Home Assists: 3 games, Corcoran (4a)

Road Points: 2 games, Szydlowski (1g, 2a) 

Road Assists: 2 games, Szydlowski (2a)

Wins (goaltender): 4, Parks

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 four power play goals on nine chances. The club skated short-handed 10 times giving up two goals.

Next week – The Komets will finish up a four-game road trip in Kalamazoo on Wednesday. The team returns home Friday versus Norfolk, travels to Indy on Saturday, and hosts Toledo on Sunday.

Icing the puck —  The team is 6-4-2 in December. 10 times this season, a Komet has scored three or more points in a game. The Komets are 10-1 when leading after two periods. Morgan-Adams Moisan leads the league in shooting percentage (12g on 32 shots, 37.5%). Brett Brochu is tied for the league lead with a GAA of 2.13. The Komets are tops in the league in home power play proficiency, 30.2%. The team is a +16 in scoring in the first period. Shawn Szydlowski is two points away from tying Ron Leef (503) for 10th on the Komets' all-time regular season scoring list. The 98 total penalty minutes in Saturday’s game at Iowa was the most combined in a single game this season. 

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!

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 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