Komets climb back into playoff position

Fort Wayne, IN – With two wins over the weekend, the Komets have climbed back into the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division with four games remaining. The team is one point back of third place, Wheeling, and one point up on fifth place, Kalamazoo. The Komets will go head-to-head with the Nailers on Wednesday in Wheeling before hosting Indy on Friday. The Komets will finish the regular season with two games versus the first-place Toledo Walleye, Saturday in Toledo and Sunday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum at 5:00 p.m.

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Sat. 4/6 vs Indy FW 2 – IND 1 OTW 

Sun. 4/7 at Kalamazoo FW 4 – KAL 2 W 

About last week – 

On Friday, the visiting Indy Fuel scored their first and only goal in the first period. After both teams failed to score in the second period, the Komets tied the game as Carl Bergland tucked the puck past starting goaltender Mitchell Weeks just 1:42 into the third period. The game eventually reached overtime, as Noah Ganske sent the crowd home happy with the winning goal at 4:44. Ryan Fanti earned the win, making 36 saves.

GAME SHEET

On Sunday, the Komets made their final regular season trip to Kalamazoo and bested the Wings 4-2. Jake Chiasson and Ethan Keppen scored in the first period to give the Komets an early lead. In the second period, the Wings got two goals just 1:47 apart to tie the game. Late in the period, Komet rookie, Harrison Rees, netted his second goal of the season at 7:23 to make the game 3-2 at the end of two periods. In the third period, Komet goaltender Tyler Parks made 10 saves and held off the desperate Wings, as Ture Linden punched in an empty net goal to solidify the win. Parks made 34 saves for the victory.

GAME SHEET

Komet streaks— 

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

Assists: 2 games, Keppen (2a)

Home Points: 3 games, Dugan (1g, 3a), 3 games, Berglund (1g, 2a), 2 games, Rees (1g, 2a) 

Home Assists: 3 games, Dugan (3a)

Komet leaders—

Points: 76, Dugan (20g, 56a)

Goals: 27, Linden

Assists: 56, Dugan

Power Play Goals: 10, Linden

Short-Handed Goals: 3, Linden

Game Winning Goals: 6, Linden 

Shots: 210, D’Aoust

PIM: 167, Dugan 

Plus/Minus: +23, Bernard

Home Points: 38, Dugan (7g, 31a)

Home Goals: 14, Linden

Home Assists: 31, Dugan 

Road Points: 38, Dugan (10g, 28a) 

Road Goals: 13, Linden 

Road Assists: 28, Dugan

Goaltenders

Appearances: 36, Parks

Wins: 18, Parks

Saves: 1112, Parks

Goals against Avg: 2.66, Brochu

Save percentage: .920, Brochu

Shutouts: 2, Fanti

Special K’s – The Komets failed to score on four power plays over the weekend. The team only skated short-handed four times and did not give up a goal.

Icing the puck — The Komets come from behind win on Friday was only the third time this season they have gained a win after trailing going into the third period. In Sunday’s win at Kalamazoo, Ethen Keppen ended a 12-game goal-scoring drought, and Ture Linden snapped a seven-game stretch with an empty net goal. The Komets finished the regular season series with the Wings going 7-1-1. The Komets have won three straight games. The team has not had a streak of over three wins this season. 14 players have made their pro debut with the Komets this season. Heading into the final week of the regular season, Jack Dugan is tied for the league with 56 assists. The Komets are averaging 8,088 fans per game this season.

End-Season-Awards this Sunday –  After the conclusion of the regular season finale against Toledo, the Komets will once again announce the team’s season ending awards on the ice as voted on by the Komets staff and media. 

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