Komets split home opening weekend

Fort Wayne, IN – The Fort Wayne Komets opened the home portion of their schedule with a win against Cincinnati on Friday, before falling to Kalamazoo on Saturday. The team will play the next two games on the road before returning to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum for Military Appreciation Night, November 9, at 7:30 p.m., versus Kalamazoo.

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Fri. 10/25 vs CIN FW 5 – CIN 4 W

Sat. 10/26 vs KAL  FW 2 – KAL 9 L

About last week – 

On Friday, Alex Aleardi started the scoring with a goal at 7:17 of the first period. Jack Gorniak followed with his first of the season at 8:20 to give the Komets a 2-0 lead. Cincinnati’s Chas Sharp and former Komet, Justin Vaive, tied the game with consecutive strikes. Aleardi broke the tie at 5:22 of the second period with his second score, with assists from Alex Swetlikoff and Ethen Keppen. While skating short-handed, Cincinnati’s Nick Issacson capitalized on a Komet miscue at center ice and scored on goaltender Brett Brochu to knot the game at three.  In the third period, defenseman Kyle Mayhew busted the deadlock with his third goal of the season, but former Komet, Matt Murphy, scored three minutes later to make it a 4-4 contest. With regulation time winding down, Swetlikoff netted the eventual game-winning goal at 13:27, with assists from Aleardi and Darren Brady. Swetlikoff finished with four points (1g, 3a), and Brett Brochu earned the win in goal, making 40 saves. The Komets were outshot 44-29.

GAME SHEET

On Saturday, the Komets faced the Kalamazoo Wings. Forward Alex Swetlikoff kept up his hot start with a goal at 5:13 of the first period, but the Wings retaliated with six unanswered goals. Starting goaltender Connor Ungar was relieved 28:06 minutes into the game after giving up all six goals on 19 shots. Brett Brochu entered the contest, making 13 saves on 16 shots, giving up three goals to make the final score 9-2. Odeen Tufto had the Komet's only other goal at 5:00 of the third period. Four of Kalamazoo's goals were scored on the power play.

GAME SHEET

Komet streaks— 

Points: 4 games, Tufto (1g, 4a)

Goals: 2 games, Swetlikoff (2g)

Assists: 2 games, Swetlikoff (4a)

Home Points: 2 games, Tufto (1g, 2a), Swetlikoff (2g, 4a)

Home Goals: 2 games, Swetlikoff (2g)

Home Assists: 2 games, Swetlikoff (4a)

Road Points: 2 games, Swankler (2g), Aleardi (2g), Tufto (3a)

Road Goals: 2 games, Swankler (2g), Aleardi (2g)

Road Assists: 2 games, Tufto (3a)

Komet leaders—

Points: Aleardi, Swetlikoff, Tufto (6pts)

Goals: Aleardi (4g)

Assists: Tufto (5a)

Power Play Goals: Aleardi, Mayhew, Tufto (1g)

Game Winning Goals: Aleardi, Swankler (1g)

Shots: Mayhew (16)

PIM: Dugan (22)

Plus/Minus: Aleardi (+4)

Home Points: 2 games, Tufto (1g, 2a), Swetlikoff (2g, 4a)

Home Goals: 2 games, Swetlikoff (2g)

Home Assists: 2 games, Swetlikoff (4a)

Road Points: Aleardi, Swankler, Tufto (3pt)

Road Goals: Mayhew, Aleardi, Swankler (2g)

Road Assists: Tufto (3a)

Goaltenders

Appearances: 3, Brochu

Wins: 2, Brochu

Saves: 30, Brochu

Goals against Avg: 3.09, Brochu

Save percentage: .912, Brochu

Special K’s—Last week, the Komets had five power play opportunities, scoring once while scoring four goals in nine shorthanded situations. The team also gave up one shorthanded goal.

Next week – The Komets travel to Kansas City to take on the Mavericks this Friday and Saturday.

Icing the puck —  The last time the Komets started the season 3-1-0 was 2021-22. Alex Swetlikoff is the first player to register four points in his Komet debut since the team joined the ECHL. Ethan de Jong was the last Komet to have four plus points in a game, scoring three goals and dishing three assists on March 2nd, 2024. The last time the Komets gave up nine goals at home was against Toledo on October 27th, with a 9-2 loss. Saturday was the 487th regular season meeting between Fort Wayne and Kalamazoo since 1974. The Komets lead the all-time series 255-176-38-16.

Upcoming Promotions

Military Appreciation Night, Saturday, November 9th: The Komets and All-American Stores would like to honor those who have served to protect our country. The Komets will wear special military-themed jerseys, and all military and veterans can purchase buy-one-get-one-free tickets at the Coliseum Ticket Office.

See Komets Schedule  See Komets Roster 

Komet Hockey on WXKE—Fans can follow the action with Shane Albahrani broadcasting play-by-play on 96.3 WKXE. 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.