Muskegon Tops Komets Again

The Fort Wayne Komets (10-5-0) dropped a third consecutive game to the Muskegon Lumberjacks (12-3-1) on Friday night. The Lumberjacks wasted no time in getting their first goal on a fluky play in which the puck took an unexpected bounce and caught Komets goalie Tim Haun far away from his net. Defenseman Adam Welsh was awarded the unassisted tally at 2:48. At the 11:50 mark, the Lumberjacks starting goalie Sebastien Centomo left the game due to an apparent injury. He was replaced by back-up Matt Lundin. Despite the change, Muskegon continued their dominance into the middle frame. After failing to score on an abbreviated 5-on-3 early in the period, Robin Bouchard found the net immediately following a face off at 7:35. Todd Robinson assisted by winning the draw and pulling the puck to Bouchard at the blueline. Meanwhile, the Komets continued to struggle with bad breaks. In the second half of the period, Matt Woodard missed a nearly open net, and Lundin came up with a huge save on a shot by the Komets David Hukalo to preserve his team’s 2-0 lead. Fort Wayne finally got on the board at 1:07 with a power play goal by Justin Chwedoruk, who found the puck lying in the crease. P.C. Drouin picked up the assist. The power play was the result of a slashing penalty given to John DiPace with 10 seconds remaining in the second period. Shortly after the score, the Komets got another 4 minute power play when Muskegon’s Mark Cody received a 4 minute spearing penalty, but they could not convert. The Lumberjacks sealed the win when they netted a power play goal of their own at 10:18. With Fort Wayne’s Kevin Bertram off for hooking, Matt Krug put the puck past Haun for a 3-1 lead, capping the scoring. Adam Welsh was credited with the helper. But the hostility between these two teams was still very much in evidence, and at 19:44 there was a fight between Fort Wayne’s Lincoln Kaleigh Schrock and Muskegon’s Billy Collins. The Lumberjacks Matt Krug picked up a roughing penalty as well. The victory gave Muskegon a 9 game winning streak and snapped Fort Wayne’s 3 game winning streak.

Notes: The Komets have not defeated Muskegon since the two teams met on Halloween night. The Lumberjacks now lead the series 3 games to 1. They will meet seven more times this season. Both teams went 1-10 on the power play. Fort Wayne’s Blair Stayzer returned from a minor shoulder injury he suffered as a result of a fight in Muskegon on November 15. The Komets outshot the Lumberjacks 39-19 overall and 16-3 in the third period.