Fort Wayne, IN – After completing a three-game sweep of Wheeling last week, the Komets are now 8-1-1 over their last 10 games, and maintain first place in the Central Division, with a record of 31-14-8-0 for 72 points. The Komets will face Central Division opponents 17 out of the last 18 regular-season games. Tickets for all home games are on sale now at the Allen County War Memorial ticket office and at komets.com. 

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Wed. 2/25 at WHL 6-3 W

Fri. 2/27 vs CIN 2-1 L  

Sat. 2/28 vs WHL 6-4 W

Sun. 3/1 @ WHL 3-2 OTW

About last week –

The Komets visited WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia, on Wednesday to face the Nailers and picked up their 20^th road win of the season. 

In the first period, the Nailers used two power play goals to take the early advantage, but the Komets were able to get on the board late in the period when William Dufour put the puck under the crossbar past goaltender Taylor Gauthier at 18:28, with an assist going to Matt Copponi.

The Komets opened the scoring in the second period when Austin Magera netted his team-leading 24th goal at 1:13 to tie the game 2-2. Trevor Janicke gave the Komets the lead at 13:44, and that goal was followed by a Blake Murray tip off a Louka Henault shot to put the Komets up 4-2 after 40 minutes.

In the third period, the Nailers pushed the lead back down to one with a Logan Pietila score at 5:48. With Wheeling’s Raivaus Ansons in the dressing room after picking up a five-minute major for slew footing, Jayden Grubbe notched his sixth goal on the power-play. The Komets continued with another power-play goal by Dufour at 16:13, with assists going to Matt Brown and Grubbe to make the final score 6-3. Sam Jonsson picked up the win, making 23 saves.

GAME SHEET

The Komets hosted Cincinnati on Friday night at the Coliseum and came up short against the Cyclones.

Cincinnati’s Jaxon Murray scored the only goal of the first period when he shot the puck over the glove of Komet netminder Sam Jonsson at 15:17.

In the second period, defenseman Tyler Inamoto set up Matt Capponi for his sixth goal of the season, beating Cyclone goalie Ken Appleby under the crossbar to tie the game 1-1 at 17:23.

The goaltenders' duel continued in the third period until the Cyclones broke through with a power play goal at 15:37 to take the lead at 2-1. Appleby did the rest, stopping 36 shots to earn the win.

GAME SHEET

The Komets hosted Wheeling for the first time at the Coliseum on Saturday and nailed down a 6-4 win.

In the first period, Brady Stonehouse received a pass from Nick Deakin-Poot, finding the back of the net at 3:50 to give the Komets the early lead. The Nailers answered with a goal from Connor Lockhart off a rebound off the post that went past Komet goalie Nathan Day at 10:40 to tie the game. Jalen Smereck, fresh off a three-game suspension, hit Matt Brown with a pass at the Wheeling blueline, springing him on goaltender Maxim Pavlenko to score his eighth goal of the season, returning the lead to the Komets at 13:50. With Lockhart in the penalty box for slashing, the Komets cashed in with a power-play goal from Alex Aleardi to give the Komets a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.

The only score of the second period came off the stick of Kirill Tyutyayev, with assists going to Tyson Feist and Aleardi at 16:55 to give the Komets a 4-1 lead heading into the intermission.

In the final period, the Nailers rallied with three goals to tie the game with just under 10 minutes remaining in the match. Working with a tie game, the Komets stormed back as Brown potted his second goal of the game at 13:54 to make it a 5-4 game. Finally, with the goaltender pulled for the extra skater, Matt Capponi scored an empty net goal to secure the 6-4 win for the Komets. Nathan Day got the victory, making 35 saves.

GAME SHEET

The Komets returned to Wheeling, West Virginia, to face the Nailers for the third time in five days and finished the sweep with a 3-2 OT win for their 21st road win of the season.

After falling behind at 5:16 of the first period, the Komets tied the game with a Matt Miller power play strike at 16:24, with assists credited to William Dufour and Kirill Tyutyayev. The Nailers were assessed 21 minutes in penalties and the Komets 17 in the first period.

After a scoreless second period, Wheeling’s Mike Posma broke the deadlock with a goal at 11:31 of the third period to return the lead to the Nailers. Late in the period, with goaltender Sam Jonsson on the bench for the extra skater, William Dufour netted the game-tying goal at 19:09. In the extra time, Dufour struck again, ripping the game-winner past Wheeling goaltender Taylor Gauthier at 6:11. Sam Jonsson got his 13th road win, making 33 saves.

GAME SHEET

Komet leaders—

Points: 47 -  Magera, Tyutyayev

Goals: 24 – Magera

Assists: 33 – Smereck

Power Play Goals: 8 – Magera

Short-Handed Goals: 2 - Janicke

Game Winning Goals: 7 – Murray

Shots: 167 - Smereck

PIM: 82 – Smereck

Plus/Minus: +26 – Krebs

Home Points: 18– Tyutyayev

Home Goals: 12 – Magera

Home Assists: 13 – Smereck

Road Points: 29 – Tyutyayev

Road Goals: 13 – Murray

Road Assists: 21 – Smereck, Tyutyayev

Goaltenders

Appearances: 29 - Nathan Day

Wins: 15 - Nathan Day, Samuel Jonsson

Saves: 668 - Nathan Day

Goals against: 55 – Samuel Jonsson

Save percentage: .911 – Samuel Jonsson

Shutouts: 4 – Samuel Jonsson

Icing the puck –  William Dufour has points in seven straight road games (5g, 6a). Brady Stonehouse has points in four straight home games (3g, 1a). The Komets have gained points in 19 straight road games. Sam Jonsson is 13-1-1 on the road, and the Komets lead the league with 21 road wins. The Komets record for most road wins in a season is 25, set in 2003-2004 and 2008-2009. The team has outscored its opponents 108-69 on the road.

Upcoming Promotions

Wednesday, March 11 –Remedy Live Mental Health Awareness Night: Staff from Remedy LIVE attending the game and available to speak about services within their organization and bringing more awareness to the importance of mental health.

OmniSource Unused Season Ticket Recycling Nights (SEASON TICKET EXCHANGE NIGHTS):  Season Ticket Holders can redeem any unused season tickets for additional tickets to this game!  Tickets can be selected from any available seating level except Club Level.  Visit the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office for details and to take advantage of this offer.

Sunday, March 15 - Meijer Family Nights + Post Game Skate:  Visit the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office or click below to get 4 Upper Arena Tickets for just $60! Also, bring your skates to go out on the ice after the game!

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.