The third annual MLK game is this Sunday

Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets picked up one victory last weekend and currently sit in second place in the Central Division with a mark of 15-12-2-1 for 33 points. Iowa will return to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum this Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. faceoff and Sunday for MLK Night starting at 5:00 p.m.

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Wed. 12/27 at Kalamazoo FW 4 – Kal 2 W

Fri. 12/29 vs Norfolk FW 2 – Nor 5 L

Sat.12/30 at Indy FW 2 – Indy 5 L

Sun.12/31 vs Toledo FW 4 – Toledo 6 L

About last week – The Komets traveled to Kalamazoo on Wednesday and skated away with a 4-2 win. After the Wings netted the game's first two goals, the Komets rallied in the third period. The comeback began with Jack Dugan scoring at 2:16, followed by a Nolan Volan strike at 7:25 with assists from Jake Johnson and goaltender Tyler Parks to tie the game. Alexis D’Aoust gave the Komets their first lead of the night with his 11th of the season at 17:42. Rookie Jack Gorniak put the game away with an empty net goal at 19:49. Tyler Parks picked up the win, making 23 saves.

GAME SHEET

On Friday, the Komets returned home after four games on the road and took a 5-2 loss from the visiting Norfolk Admirals. Norfolk scored the contest's first three goals, including a tally from former Fort Wayne Spaceman Darick Louis-Jean. In the second period, Ture Linden snagged a short-handed goal at 11:17. The rally was short-lived as the Admirals’ Justin Robidas scored back-to-back goals to make the game 5-1 heading into the third period. In the final period, Linden struck again, with assists from Noah Ganske and Xavier Cormier. Tyler Parks started the game but did not finish as he was chased from the game after giving up five goals on 27 shots. Brett Brochu stopped all three shots in relief.

GAME SHEET

Down in Indy on Saturday, the Komets once again fell behind by two goals. The Komets’ Carl Berglund got his team within one with a goal at 7:34 of the second period, but Indy scored another in the second, followed by two more tallies in the third. Ture Linden netted the other Komet goal at 7:17 of the third period to make the final score 5-2. The game was highlighted when starting goaltenders Brett Brochu and Zach Driscoll dropped the gloves at 19:54 of the second period. Brochu was hung with the loss, making 30 saves.

GAME SHEET

On New Year’s Eve, the Komets took another loss against the Toledo Walleye 6-4. With the game tied 1-1 in the first, the Walleye took the game over, scoring four unanswered goals. With the game 5-1 in the second period, the Komets started to rally as Ture Linden scored his fourth goal of the week at 14:03 of the second period. The momentum was quickly stopped as Toledo’s Matt Anderson scored short-handed at 18:26. In the third, Jack Gorniak scored at 2:08 to push the score to 6-3. The Komets continued to pepper Toledo goaltender John Lethemon with shots as Brandon Kruse was called for a five-minute major for slew-footing at 10:14. The Komets were unable to mount a comeback despite the newly acquired Ethan Keppen’s power-play goal at 18:38. Brett Brochu was relieved by Tyler Parks after giving up five goals on 17 shots. Tyler Parks made 12 saves on 13 shots faced.

GAME SHEET

Komet streaks— 

Points: 7 games, Wedman (4g, 9a), 6 games, Linden (4g, 2a) 2 games, Johnson (2a), 2 games, Berglund (1g, 2a), 2 games, Dugan (3a)

Goals: 3 games, Linden (4g)

Assists: 2 games, Johnson (2a), 2 games, Dugan (3a)

Home Points: 3 games, Wedman (2g, 6a) 2 games, Linden (3g)

Home Goals: 2 games, Linden (3g)

Home Assists: 3 games, Corcoran (4a)

Road Points:  4 games, Wedman (2g, 3a), Linden (2g, 2a), 3 games, Szydlowski (1g, 3a), 

Road Assists: 5 games, Jack Dugan (2g, 6a) 3 games, Szydlowski (3a), Wedman (4a)

Komet leaders

Points: 34, Dugan (7g, 27a)

Goals: 14, Linden

Assists: 27, Dugan

Power Play Goals: 5, Linden

Short-Handed Goals: 2, Gorniak

Game Winning Goals: 2, Berglund, Adams-Moisan, D’Aoust

Shots: 104, D’Aoust

PIM: 85, Dugan 

Plus/Minus: +19, Bernard

Home Points: 14, Dugan (1g, 13a)

Home Goals: 7, Wedman

Home Assists: 12, Dugan 

Road Points: 18, Dugan (5g, 13a) 

Road Goals: 6, Linden 

Road Assists: 14, Dugan

Goaltenders

Appearances: 19, Parks

Wins: 9, Parks

Saves: 533, Parks

Goals against Avg: 2.74, Brochu

Save percentage: .919, Brochu

Special K’s –The Komets scored three power-play goals on 15 chances. The club skated short-handed 10 times giving up two goals.

Next week – The Komets play at Kalamazoo on Wednesday and at Toledo on Friday before hosting Iowa Saturday and Sunday.

Icing the puck — Wednesday's win in Kalamazoo was the first time this season that the Komets have won a game after trailing entering the third period. It was also the Komets' 250th all-time win versus Kalamazoo. Tyler Parks' five-game win streak was snapped on Friday. Matt Wedman has the longest point streak of the season at seven games. The team only allowed three shots on goal in the third period in Friday's loss to Norfolk. Shawn Szydlowski became the 12th player in Komet history to appear in 500 regular-season games on Friday. Saturday was the final time the Komets will play at the Indiana State Fairgrounds during the regular season. The first time the Komets played at Indy was November 13, 1955. Sunday's attendance was 10,479. The Komets are now 43-19-3-2 on New Year's Eve.

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