Komets finish the week with a big win

Fort Wayne, IN – With a win over Cincinnati on Sunday at the Coliseum, the Komets climbed to within one point of claiming home-ice advantage in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs with three regular-season games remaining. 

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Tue. 4/1 at Kalamazoo FW 1 – KAL 4 L

Fria. 4/4 vs Indy FW 2 – IND 4 L

Sat. 4/5 at Indy FW 3 – IND 4 OTL

Sun. 4/6 vs Cincinnati FW 7 – CIN 0 W

About last week – 

On Tuesday, the Komets visited Kalamazoo for the final time during the regular season.

The scoring started in the first period as Kalamazoo's Travis Broughman scored a 9:16 to put the Wings up 1-0. The Komets tied the game at 18:38 as Zach Jordan received a pass from Alex Aleardi and put it past Wings' goaltender Ty Young to knot the game.

In the second period, Quinn Preston scored on a power play to return the lead to the Wings at 6:21. The Wings continued the scoring with two third-period tallies to make the final score 4-1. Connor Ungar was tagged with the loss, making 24 saves.

GAME SHEET

On Friday at the Coliseum, the Komets fell to the Indy Fuel 4-2.

Zach Jordan got the Komets on the board in the first period at 5:11, with an assist credited to rookie Cullen Ferguson and Nick Deakin-Poot. The Fuel followed with two strikes, the first coming at 15:55 and the next at 16:12. With time winding down and Ferguson in the penalty box for charging, Jordan struck again with a short-handed goal at 19:47, with Deakin-Poot picking up another helper to send the game to the first intermission tied 2-2.

After a scoreless second period, Indy's Darby Llewellyn scored short-handed at 3:39 to return the lead to the Fuel. The Komets could not rally as the Fuel put the game out of reach with an empty net goal at 18:48. Connor Ungar made 29 saves.

GAME SHEET

Alex Aleardi scored the only goal of the first period as he stole the puck from Indy defenseman Chris Cameron at the Fuel's blueline and knocked it under the pads of goaltender Ben Gaudreau for his 23rd tally at 16:08.

Rookie Josh Groll scored his first professional goal to open the scoring in the second period to put the Komets up 2-0 at 1:04. With time winding down, Indy's Colin Bilek put the Fuel on the board with a goal at 18:57 to make it a 2-1 contest after 40 minutes.

In the third period, Indy's Ty Farmer threw the puck to the net and beat Connor Ungar to tie the game, but Jack Dugan answered, with assists coming from Jack Gorniak and Kyle Crnkovic at 4:44 to give the Komets the lead. The Fuel quickly responded with a power-play goal at 7:41 to knot the game, ultimately pushing the game to overtime.

The Komets had to skate short-handed in the extra frame as Aleardi was given a holding call. On the ensuing power play, Cam Hausinger ended the game at 5:52.

GAME SHEET

The Komets returned home to the Coliseum on Sunday and scored seven goals against the Cincinnati Cyclones. 

James Stefan started the scoring with his third of the season at 1:10, with assists from Brannon McManus and Owen Gallatin. Next up was rookie Josh Groll, netting his second career goal at 8:00, with helpers from Alex Aleardi and Noah Ganske. The period concluded with Jack Dugan's 23rd of the season, making it a 3-0 after one period.

In the second period, Gorniak scored his 16th of the season at 9:20 from McManus and Stefan. Gorniak assisted on the Komets' fifth goal as McManus hit the back of the net at 18:53.

In the final frame of the weekend, Stefan potted his second of the game on a power-play at 7:30. The scoring was concluded with Cullen Ferguson netting his first professional goal at 12:41 to make the final score 7-0.  Goaltender Nathaniel Day notched a shutout in his pro debut, making 24 saves.

GAME SHEET

Komet streaks— 

Points: 3 games, Jordan (3g), 2 games, Dugan (2g), 2 games, Aleardi (1g, 1a), 2 games, Gorniak (1g, 3a), 2 games, Stefan (2g, 2a), 2 games, Groll (2g)

Goals: 3 games, Jordan (3g), 2 games, Dugan (2g), 2 games, Groll (2g)

Assists: 2 games, Gorniak (3a)

Komet leaders—

Points: 73 – Dugan (23g, 50a)

Goals: 23 – Aleardi, Dugan

Assists: 50 – Dugan

Power Play Goals: 7 – Dugan

Short-Handed Goals: 1 – Gorniak, Keppen, Taylor

Game Winning Goals: 7 – Aleardi

Shots: 194 – Aleardi

PIM: 129 – Dugan

Plus/Minus: +20 – Brady

Home Points: 34 – Dugan

Home Goals: 12– Aleardi

Home Assists: 25 – Mayhew

Road Points: 39 – Dugan

Road Goals: 12 – Dugan

Road Assists: 27 – Dugan

Goaltenders

Appearances: 35 – Brochu

Wins: 20 – Brochu

Saves: 1005 - Brochu

Goals against Avg: 2.41 - Brochu

Save percentage: 0.924 - Day

Shutouts: 2, Ungar

Special K’s—The Komets scored two power-play goals on 11 chances while giving up four goals, skating short-handed.

Next week – The Komets play at Toledo on Friday before concluding the regular season a pair of games versus Bloomington at the Coliseum on Saturday and Sunday.

Icing the puck –    The Komets finished the regular season series with Indy with a mark of 7-3-1 and finished 6-2-0 against Cincinnati. Jack Dugan had 14 points (4g, 10a) against the Fuel this season.  Dugan has reached the 50-assist mark for the second straight season. Jack Gorniak, James Stefan, and Brannon McManus scored three points in the blowout win on Sunday. It was the first time three Komets had three points in a game this season. 25 times this season, a player has scored three or more points in a game. Nathan Day became the eighth Komet goaltender since 1952 to earn a shutout in his debut. He joins Jerry Fleury (1955), Phil Hughes (1957), Robbie Irons (1967), Ian Olsen (2001), Tim Haun (2008), Francois Tremblay (2014), and Robbie Beydoun (2021). Nick Deakin-Poot has four assists over his last three games.

Upcoming Promotions

Saturday, April 12:  Blackout Night:  The Komets will be wearing their "Blackout" jerseys! Get yours at the game or at the Komets Shop.

Hungry Howie’s Ticket Offer - four Upper Deck Tickets, four Komets Pucks and a $20 Hungry Howie’s Food Voucher for $75.

Sunday, April 13:  Stick around after the game to see who wins Team MVP and many other regular-season Team Awards!

Meijer Family Nights: Visit the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office and get four Upper Arena Tickets for just $58!

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.