Komets earn two more wins; The team hits the road for two more divisional games this weekend

Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets earned two wins and four points last weekend with wins over Wheeling and Indy. With 13 games remaining in the regular season, the Komets still hold fourth place in the Central Division with 65 points, just a point back of Wheeling and Indy for second place. The Komets will be on the road next Friday and Saturday in Cincinnati before hosting Kalamazoo on March 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Fri. 3/8 vs Wheeling FW 1 – WHL 0 W

Sat 3/9 vs Wheeling FW 3 – WHL 4 L

Sun 3/10 vs Indy FW 4 – IND 3 W

About last week – 

On Friday, the Komets hosted the Wheeling Nailers. After two scoreless periods, Jack Dugan broke the deadlock at 5:46 of the third period and that was all Komet goaltender Ryan Fanti needed as he stopped 40 shots for this second shutout of the season. 

GAME SHEET

After dropping the first five games of the season series to the Komets, the visiting Nailers finally bested the Komets 4-3 on Saturday. Xavier Cormier got the Komets on the board first with a goal at 3:17 of the first period but was quickly matched by Matt Koopman's goal at 5:34. Jake Chiasson put the Komets back in the lead with his fifth of the season at 9:33, but was again matched with a Wheeling power-play goal at 14:44. With the game tied at two, Komet defenseman Xavier Bernard scored from the blue-line at 17:22 to get the Komets back on top. In the second period, the Nailers scored twice in the first three minutes to take the lead. Wheeling's goaltender Taylor Gauthier took care of the rest, stopping 21 shots to solidify the win. Ryan Fanti started the game for the Komets but was relieved by Tyler Parks after giving up four goals on 14 shots. Parks was 15 of 15 in relief.

GAME SHEET

On Sunday, the Komets hosted the Indy Fuel. In the first period, Alexis D’Aoust tickled the nylon on the power play to open the scoring at 5:00. With Marc-Antoine Pepin in the penalty box for delay of game, rookie Ture Linden blasted a shot past Indy goaltender Mitchell Weeks at 19:27 to give the Komets a 2-0 lead. After a scoreless second period, Indy scored three unanswered goals to take the lead in the third. The Komets battled back adding two more power-play goals from Ethan de Jong and Linden to overtake the Fuel and earn a 4-3 win. Tyler Parks got the win, making 32 saves.

GAME SHEET

Komet streaks— 

Points: 8 games, Dugan (3g, 9a) 3 games, Carl Berglund (5a), 2 games, de Jong (2a), 2 games, Cormier (1g, 1a)

Assists: 3 games, (5a), 2 games, Dugan (2a), 2 games, de Jong (2a) 

Home Points: 5 games, Dugan (2g, 4a), 2 games, de Jong (2a)

Home Assists: 2 games, Dugan (2a), 2 games, de Jong (2a)

Road Points: 10 games, Dugan (5g, 9a), 4 games, Keppen (3g, 2a), 

Road Goals: 3 games, Keppen (3g)

Road Assists: 3 games, Dugan (3a)

Komet leaders—

Points: 68, Dugan (18g, 50a)

Goals: 25, Linden

Assists: 50, Dugan

Power Play Goals: 10, Linden

Short-Handed Goals: 3, Linden

Game Winning Goals: 5, D’Aoust, Linden 

Shots: 190, D’Aoust

PIM: 149, Dugan 

Plus/Minus: +22, Bernard

Home Points: 31, Dugan (6g, 28a)

Home Goals: 14, Linden

Home Assists: 28, Dugan 

Road Points: 34, Dugan (9g, 25a) 

Road Goals: 11, Linden 

Road Assists: 25, Dugan

Goaltenders

Appearances: 34, Parks

Wins: 17, Parks

Saves: 936, Parks

Goals against Avg: 2.76, Brochu

Save percentage: .920, Brochu

Shutouts: 2, Fanti

Special K’s – The Komets scored four power plays on 10 chances while skating short-hand seven times and only surrendering one goal. 

Icing the puck — Including playoffs, Ryan Fanti now has four career shutouts. Ture Linden leads the team in power-play goals with 10, shorthanded goals with three, and tied for the team lead with five game-winning goals. Linden is tied for the league lead in goals scored among rookies. The Komets are second in the league with 10 shorthanded goals. On Saturday, Shawn Szydlowski passed Robbie Laird for 10th all-time in regular season games with 521. Tyler Parks has 936 saves this season. The last Komet goaltender to reach 1,000 saves in a season was Michael Houser (1,163) during the 2017-18 season. The Komets are second in the league in attendance, with 8,101 fans per game. Jack Dugan is second in the league in scoring with 66 points and leads in assists with 50. The Komets are first in the league on the power play at home (30 percent). The Komets are 19-9-1-0 when scoring first.

Upcoming Promotions

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