Fort Wayne, IN – The Komets defeated all challengers last week to reclaim first place in the Central Division. The team will start the final week of the regular season with a two-point lead over second-place Toledo with three games remaining. Indy will be in town on Wednesday, with the return match with Toledo scheduled for Thursday at the Coliseum. The Komets will conclude the regular season with a final tilt with Kalamazoo on Sunday at home.

Tickets for all regular season home and the first two playoff games are on sale now at the Allen County War Memorial ticket office and at komets.com. 

ECHL STANDINGS

Last week’s results 

Fri. 4/10 vs KAL 5-1 W

Sat. 4/11 at KAL 6-2 W

Sun. 4/12 vs TOL 5-4 W

About last week –

The Komets squared off with Kalamazoo for the first time since December 14, at the Coliseum on Friday. 

Defenseman Tyson Feist opened the scoring with his second strike of the season at 4:50, with assists going to Jalen Smereck and Austin Magera to put the Komets up 1-0 after the first period.

The second period turned into the William Dufour show, as he scored at 5:49 and 6:50 on the power play, and again at 9:19 for the Komets first hat trick of the season and the first natural hatty since 2023.

The Komets took a 4-0 lead into the third period and watched as the Wings scored a shorthanded goal at 9:47, which was answered at 10:01 by Matt Copponi, making the final score 5-1. Sam Jonsson got the win, making 23 saves.

GAME SHEET

The Komets traveled to Kalamazoo on Saturday and picked up their 25th road win of the season, tying a team record.

In the first period, Kalamazoo got on the board first with a goal at 4:55, with the Komets countering with a score at 7:12 off the stick of rookie forward, Reid Pabich, to tie the game. Trevor Janicke lifted the Komets into the lead with his 11th goal of the season, with assists coming from Pabich and Josh Atkinson. With time winding down in the period, the host Wings tied the game with a rebound shot past Komet goaltender Nathan Day to tie the game 2-2 with 1:00 to play in the period.

The second period started with Blake Murray draining a shot off a clean faceoff win from Logan Nelson to put the Komets up 3-2 at 1:07. Kalamazoo appeared to have the game tied later in the period, but the puck was deemed to have been played with a high stick, negating the goal. The Komets added to their lead with a power-play goal at 18:01.
In the third period, Murray struck for the second time with a pass that banked off the Wings’ Jayden Lee and into the net to make the game 5-2. The game ended with a William Dufour empty net goal to make the final score 6-2. Nathan Day picked up his 20th win of the season, making 30 saves.

GAME SHEET 

The Komets battled rival Toledo at the Coliseum on Sunday with first place in the Central Division on the line.

The scoring opened when Jalen Smereck lit the lamp at 4:22, with an assist from William Dufour. The Walleye answered by scoring twice to take the lead into the first intermission.

In the second period, Josh Bloom grabbed his first goal as a Komet at 5:47, with assists from Smereck and Dufour for the only score of the frame.

With the game tied in the third, Josh Bloom registered his second of the game at :59 to put the Komets back on top. That goal was followed by another Dufour goal at 7:41 to put the Komets up by two. Late in the period, Toledo rallied with a goal at 15:40. After the tally, the Walleye gambled by pulling their goaltender, Carter Gylander, with over two minutes left. Kirill Tyutyayev accepted a pass from Dru Krebs, hitting the empty net to make it a 5-3 game. With time still remaining and Gylander still on the bench for the extra skater, former Komet, Garrett Van Wyhe, found the back of the net at 18:41 to make it a one-goal contest yet again. In the final seconds, the Walleye threw everything at goalie Sam Jonsson, but the rookie held on, gaining his 21st win with the 5-4 decision, making 32 saves.

GAME SHEET

Komet leaders—

Points: 63 - Tyutyayev

Goals: 29 – Magera

Assists: 44 – Smereck

Power Play Goals: 9 – Magera

Short-Handed Goals: 2 - Janicke

Game Winning Goals: 8 – Murray

Shots: 205 - Smereck

PIM: 99 – Smereck

Plus/Minus: +31 – Krebs

Home Points: 32 – Magera

Home Goals: 20 – Magera

Home Assists: 20 – Smereck

Road Points: 34 – Tyutyayev

Road Goals: 16 – Murray

Road Assists: 24 – Tyutyayev

Goaltenders

Appearances: 37 - Nathan Day

Wins: 21 - Samuel Jonsson

Saves: 846 - Nathan Day

Goals against: 72 – Samuel Jonsson

Save percentage: .911 – Samuel Jonsson

Shutouts: 5 – Samuel Jonsson

Icing the puck –   William Dufour’s hat trick in the second period of Friday’s win versus Kalamazoo was the team’s first of the season. It was the first natural hatty since October 28, 2023, (Cam Wright) and the 90th in team history. Dufour has seven goals over the last four games and 11 assists over the last nine games. With their 25th road win on Saturday, the Komets tied the franchise record for most road wins in a season, set during the 2003-2004 season and matched in 2009-2009. The team finished the road portion of the schedule with only four regulation losses. Sam Jonsson and Nathan Day each have 20 wins. The last goaltending combo to each have 20+ wins in a season was Tim Haun (27) and Nick Boucher (23) in 2009-2010. Sunday’s game with Toledo was the 500th regular-season meeting between Fort Wayne and a team from Toledo. The Komets are 255-204-17-27 all-time versus Toledo. The team now has 18 home wins, second most in the Central Division.

Upcoming Promotions

Wednesday, April 15 –Blackout Night: The Komets will be wearing their "Blackout" jerseys! Get yours at the game or at the Komets Shop.

Marathon Fill-Up Card Wednesdays: Filling up three times at any area Marathon station earns you BOGO tickets to any Friday home game. Visit any local Marathon Station for details.

Thursday, April 16 -  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.

Sunday, April 19 - Kids Seat FREE Night: Receive a FREE Kids ticket courtesy of Lutheran Health Network and Aunt Millie's with the purchase of any regular-priced adult ticket!

See Komets Schedule  See Komets Roster Interview Zoom link

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.