Komets roll past Railers to earn five points over the weekend

Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets gained five out of six points last weekend against Worcester. After 40 games, the Komets are maintaining second place in the ECHL’s Central Division, with a record of 20-16-1-3 (44pt). The Komets will play the next two games on the road before returning home for Komets Fight Cancer Night on Friday, February 2, versus Cincinnati at 8:00 p.m. at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Fri. 1/19 vs Worcester FW 4 – WOR 0 W

Sat. 1/20 vs Worcester FW 3 – WOR 4 SOL

Sun.1/21 vs Worcester FW 5 – WOR 3 W

About last week – 

On Friday, the Komets hosted Worcester for the first time in franchise history. Alexis D’Aoust scored with a power-play goal at 18:22 of the first period. After a scoreless second period, Noah Ganske, Shawn Szydlowski, and Jake Chiasson found the back of the net in the third. Goaltender Brett Brochu did the rest by blanking the Railers, making 36 saves, giving the Komets a 4-0 win. Xavier Cormier finished the game with three assists.

GAME SHEET

After an early Blade Jenkins goal that gave Worcester a first-period lead, the Komet's Nolan Volcan tallied a short-handed goal at 13:09 of the first period to tie the game. Ture Linden added a tally in the second, followed by a Jack Dugan goal in the third to give the Komets a 3-1 lead. The Railers rallied with two late in the third to tie the game. After a scoreless overtime, the game was decided via shootout as Worcester's goaltender John Muse stopped all seven Komet shooters to win as the Railers' Jack Quinlivan scored the only goal in the seventh round. In his return to Fort Wayne, Ryan Fanti made 34 saves.

GAME SHEET

The Komets finished the three-game series versus Worcester with a 5-3 win. Ethen Keppen struck twice in the first period to give the Komets a 2-0 lead. Worchester’s Keegan Howdeshell cut the lead in half with a goal just 1:36 into the second period. The Komets rattled off three unanswered goals in the second frame. Xavier Cormier, Alexis D’Aoust, and Carl Bergland scored to give the Komets a four-goal cushion heading into the second intermission. In the third, the Railers rallied with two goals, but Tyler Parks made 14 saves in the period to hold off the visiting Railers. Parks finished with 36 saves and the win.

GAME SHEET

Komet streaks— 

Points: 4 games, Cormier (3g, 5a), 3 games, Jack Dugan (2g, 3a), 3 games, Ganske (1g. 3a), 2 games, Volcan (1g, 1a)

Assists: 3 games, Cormier (5a)

Home Points:  3 games, Cormier (1g, 5a), 3 games, Ganske, (1g, 2a), 2 games, Volcan (1g, 1a) 

Home Assists: 3 games, Cormier (5a), 3 games, Corcoran (4a), 2 games, Ganske (2a)

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

Komet leaders—

Points: 41, Dugan (10g, 31a)

Goals: 16, Linden

Assists: 31, Dugan

Power Play Goals: 6, Linden

Short-Handed Goals: 2, Gorniak

Game Winning Goals: 4, D’Aoust

Shots: 142, D’Aoust

PIM: 107, Dugan 

Plus/Minus: +17, Bernard

Home Points: 19, Dugan (3g, 16a)

Home Goals: 8, Wedman

Home Assists: 16, Dugan 

Road Points: 21, Dugan (6g, 15a) 

Road Goals: 8, Linden 

Road Assists: 15, Dugan

Goaltenders

Appearances: 25, Parks

Wins: 13, Parks

Saves: 715, Parks

Goals against Avg: 2.66, Brochu

Save percentage: .922, Brochu

Shutouts: 1, Parks, Brochu

Special K’s – The Komets killed all 12 power plays they faced, while scoring one power play goal on five chances.

Next week – The Komets are on the road at Kalamazoo on Friday and at Cincinnati on Saturday.

Icing the puck — Brett Brochu earned his pro shutout on Friday, snapping his four-game winless streak. It was also the second time the Komets held an opponent scoreless. Xavier Cormier's three assists in Friday's win was the third time he's reached three or more points in a game this season. With his goal on Friday, Shawn Szydlowski broke two ties on the Komets all-time regular season scoring list. Szydlowski surpassed Colin Chaulk for 11th in goals scored with 185 and passed Ron Leef for 10th all-time in points scored with 504. The Komets are tied for second in the league with six short-handed goals. The Komets are 1-3 in shootouts, having only scored twice out of 15 shooters. Jack Dugan is tied for second in the league with 31 assists. Ture Linden is third among rookies, scoring 35 points (16g, 19a). Ethan Keppen has 10 points (6g, 4a) since joining the Komets on 12/31/23. The Komets are tops in the league on the power play at home at 27.8 percent.

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